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THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN  THE 

GRAIL    LEGEND   AND    IN 

THE  DIVINE    COMBD  V 


UC-NRLF 


B  ^  oae  775 

LIZETTE  ANDREWS  FISHER 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  op  the  Requirements 

FOR  THE  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the 

Faculty  ov  Philosophy,  Columbia  U;^IIVERSITY 


if 


I13eto  gotb 

COLUMBIA   UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
1917 


i 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  STUDIES    IN    ENGLISH 
AND   COMPARATIVE   LITERATURE 


THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN  THE  GRAIL 

LEGEND    AND     IN    THE 

DIVINE    COMEDY 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  PRESS 
SALES  AGENTS 

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Frontispiece  of  the  Rosarium  Celenlis  carue  et  patrice  triumphalis,  Jacob 
Locher,  Nuremburg,  1517.  From  licnaissance  uri'l  Humanismii^ ,  Ltidwig 
(leiger,  1882. 


THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN  THE 

GRAIL    LEGEND   AND    IN 

THE  DIVINE   COMEDY 


BY 

LIZETTE  ANDREWS  FISHER 


Submitted  in  Partial  Fulfilment  of  the  Requirements 

FOR  the  Degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy,  in  the 

Faculty  of  Philosophy,  Columbia  University 


If3eto  gork 

COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY   PRESS 
1917 


Copyright,  1917 
By  Columbia  University  Press 


Printed  from  type,  March,  1917 


This  Monograph  has  been  approved  by  the  Department  of 
English  and  Comparative  Literature  in  Columbia  University 
as  a  contribution  to  knowledge  worthy  of  publication. 

A.  H.  Thorndike, 

Executive  Officer 


PREFACE 

The  addition  of  even  a  single  page  to  the  voluminous 
criticism  of  the  Grail  Legend  and  the  Divine  Comedy  can  be 
justified  only  by  the  hope  of  suggesting  a  fresh  interpreta- 
tion in  the  light  of  hitherto  unnoticed  facts.  But  they 
have  been  examined  from  so  many  different  points  of  view 
that  it  would  seem  impossible  to  find  any  line  of  thought 
explanatory  of  questions  in  either,  much  less  one  which  clears 
up  problems  in  both. 

Nevertheless  such  a  line  of  thought  is,  I  believe,  to  be 
found  in  the  history  of  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation, 
which  from  the  controversies  of  the  ninth  century  to  its 
culmination  in  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215  seems,  strangely 
enough,  to  have  received  little  attention  from  the  standpoint 
of  its  literary  influence,  though  it  needs  but  a  moment's 
reflection  to  perceive  that  a  dogma  so  closely  coimected  with 
the  life  and  thought  of  the  later  Middle  Ages  must  have 
affected  contemporary  literature.  Emphasis  on  the  sacra- 
mental system  of  the  church  as  its  great  agent  of  salvation, 
and  the  special  glorification  of  the  eucharist  as  chief  among 
sacraments,  received  authoritative  recognition  in  the  decree 
of  this  council,  which  declared  transubstantiation  an  article 
of  faith,  and  placed  it  at  the  beginning  of  its  confession  in 
immediate  connection  with  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the 
Trinity  and  the  Incarnation.  WhUe  the  religious  fervor  thus 
evidenced  found  outward  expression  in  elaboration  of  eucha- 
ristic  ritual  and  in  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi,  its  spiritual 
influence  is  no  less  marked  in  the  mysticism  of  the  day. 


358454 


Vlll  PREFACE 

The  eucharist  was  one  means,  and  not  the  least  important, 
by  which  man  might  achieve  union  with  God.  Through  it 
the  soul  entered  into  union  with  God  Incarnate,  His  splendor 
being  sacramentally  veiled  in  mercy  to  finite  powers,  and 
the  intuitive  knowledge  of  transubstantiation,  conceived  as 
the  miracle  whereby  the  special  presence  of  God  was  invoked, 
was  claimed  as  a  part,  at  least,  of  the  mystic  vision. 

Though  it  is  manifestly  impossible  that  so  stupendous  a 
belief  could  have  been  without  its  effect  on  contemporary 
literature,  it  was  not  from  the  doctrinal  point  of  view  that 
this  study  had  its  beginning,  but  rather  from  a  desire  to  , 
understand  certain  unexplained  features  of  the  closing  '^ 
cantos  of  the  Purgatory.  The  point  of  departure  was  the  cry 
of  greeting  to  Beatrice  as  she  appears  in  the  Earthly  Paradise, 
Benedictus  qui  venis,  words  which  not  only  hailed  the  entry 
of  Christ  into  Jerusalem  but  which  day  by  day  in  the  mass 
herald  the  expected  coming  of  Christ  to  the  altar  at  the 
moment  of  consecration.  Dante,  fully  aware  of  the  eucha- 
ristic  association  with  the  words,  must  have  been  conscious 
that  by  their  use  at  this  point  he  was  suggesting  an  alle- 
gorical connection  between  the  coming  of  Beatrice  and  the 
sacramental  coming  of  Christ.  Such  an  allegory,  with  all 
its  ceremonial  detail,  is  not  only  entirely  consistent  with  the 
belief  and  worship  familiar  to  Dante,  but  leads  also  to  a 
genuinely  organic  interpretation  of  the  whole  episode. 
Just  as  the  eucharistic  presence  of  Christ  vouchsafed  to  the 
church  is  foretaste  and  pledge  of  the  final  vision  of  God,  so 
the  revelation  of  Beatrice  in  the  Earthly  Paradise  is  the 
foreshadowing  of  the  revelation  of  God  with  which  the 
Divine  Comedy  closes. 

The  application  of  the  theory  to  the  Grail  legend  came 
about,  almost  accidentally,  through  the  questions  which  arise 
in  regard  to  those  glimpses  of  the  Earthly  Paradise  which  j 
appear  now  and  again  in  its  background.    That  the  influence 
of  the  dogma  of  transubstantiation  might  offer  an  explana- 


PREFACE  IX 

tion  of  the  knottiest  point  of  the  whole  Grail  problem,  that 
of  the  fusion  of  the  Celtic  story  of  the  Quest  and  the  Christ- 
ian legend  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  was  at  the  outset  far 
from  the  thought  of  the  writer,  who  can  honestly  deny 
having  fitted  facts  into  a  previously  conceived  theory.  On 
the  contrary,  the  tendency  of  all  the  facts  as  they  were  col- 
lected and  compared  to  point  to  one  conclusion  and  to 
answer  many  and  diverse  questions  was  viewed  at  first  with 
the  suspicion  always  aroused  by  extraordinarily  detailed  and 
minute  correspondence.  So  many  good  theories  have 
snapped  when  stretched  to  cover  too  many  points! 

This  study  is  offered  for  the  consideration  of  those  who 
are  interested  in  the  question  of  the  meaning  of  literature 
to  those  for  whom  it  was  created,  in  this  case  a  medieval 
audience  unconscious  of  "sources"  but  greatly  liking  an 
implied  moral.  Though  the  present  work  is  an  investiga- 
tion into  the  influence  of  eucharistic  teaching  and  practice 
in  a  circumscribed  field,  there  are  undoubtedly  other  literary 
questions  which  may  find  an  answer  in  the  same  influence 
and  which  may  therefore  repay  study  from  the  same  point 
of  view. 

In  the  matter  of  acknowledgment  and  thanks  my  credi- 
tors are  many  and  words  a  most  inadequate  repayment. 
To  Professor  J.  B.  Fletcher,  in  whose  seminar  I  learned  to 
value  Dante's  background  of  religion  and  philosophy,  my 
obligation  is  not  to  be  measured,  and  extends  beyond  public 
teaching  to  private  advice  and  encouragement.  To  Professor 
W.  W.  Lawrence  I  owe  the  enrichment  of  my  own  meagre 
acquaintance  with  medieval  romance  from  his  ample  store. 
Both  have  given  endless  patient  consideration  to  the  work 
of  criticism  and  suggestion.  To  other  members  of  the 
department  of  English  and  Comparative  Literature  of  Co- 
lumbia University,  notably  to  Professor  A.  H.  Thorndike, 
I  am  grateful  for  immediate  attention  to  the  first  presen- 
tation of  my  theory,  and  for  generous  and  unflagging  interest 


X  PREFACE 

in  its  development.  This  interest  has  also  been  shared  by- 
many  fellow-students,  some  of  whom  have  given  valuable 
assistance  in  the  correction  of  proof. 

For  the  books  required  I  am  indebted  not  only  to  the 
authorities  and  staff  of  the  Library  of  Columbia  University, 
of  the  New  York  Public  Library,  and  of  the  Peabody  Library, 
Baltimore,  but  also  to  those  of  the  General  and  Union 
Theological  Seminaries,  New  York,  for  without  their  special 
collections  such  a  study  could  not  have  been  made  at  all. 

I  should  like  also  to  make  special  mention  of  the  monu- 
mental work  of  MM.  Rohault  de  Fleury  from  whose 
study  of  the  archeology  of  the  mass  all  the  illustrations, 
except  the  frontispiece,  have  been  taken. 

L.  A.  F. 
Columbia  University, 
December,  1916. 


CONTENTS 

Introduction 1 

Transxjbstantiation  in  History,  Theology  and  Devotion     .  7 

The  Mystic  Vision  in  the  Legend  of  the  Grail    ....  29 

The  Mystic  Vision  in  the  Divine  Comedy 85 

Appendices 117 

Bibliography 139 

Index 145 


INTRODUCTION 

The  modern  student  of  history  is  admittedly  more  inter- 
ested in  the  thoughts  than  in  the  deeds  of  the  past.  Looking 
to  the  former  for  the  explanation  of  the  latter,  he  grudges 
no  time  spent  in  understanding  the  mental  attitude  of  a 
period,  in  reconstructing  it  with  all  possible  sympathy  for 
its  peculiarities  and  without  any  trace  of  condescension  to 
its  limitations.  Students  of  letters  have  been  somewhat 
slower  to  realize  that  literature  no  less  than  history  must 
involuntarily  reflect  contemporary  thinking  and  feeling, 
but  they  are  now  very  generally  agreed  that  the  background 
of  ideas  and  sentiment  must  be  reconstructed  before  we  can 
hope  to  know  what  any  literature  meant  to  the  audience 
for  which  it  was  produced. 

In  the  work  of  such  reconstruction  the  method  employed 
has  been,  for  the  most  part,  based  on  the  theory  of  evolu- 
tion. Ever  conscious  of  the  idea  of  development,  students 
have  sought  to  find  the  key  to  all  things  in  their  origins 
rather  than  in  their  contemporary  associations;  in  other 
words,  in  their  heredity  rather  than  in  their  environment. 
Scholarly  energy  has  largely  been  devoted  to  the  study  of 
sources  in  literature  and  history  as  well  as  in  language.  In 
the  field  of  folk  lore  and  popular  story  scholars  have  zeal- 
ously followed  every  clew  and  preserved  every  tale  lingering 
anywhere  on  the  lips  of  the  people,  and  when  we  read  the 
carefully  arranged  results  of  their  labors  we  are  startled  to 
find  therein  the  germs  of  every  story  that  has  ever  been 
told.  Investigation  of  primitive  worship,  custom,  and  art 
has  thrown  light  into  many  a  dark  corner  of  history  and 
letters,  and  has  afforded  a  clew  to  more  than  one  tangle. 


2  INTRODUCTION 

But,  after  all,  while  the  antecedents  o*"  every  vital  thing, 
idea,  or  person  are  niwa-^s  interesting  and  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  acquiring  knowledge  of  it,  the  great  force  which 
moulds  it  is  its  own  living  present.  It  is  a  part  of  all  that 
it  has  met  even  more  than  it  is  a  consequence  of  its 
origins. 

In  the  study  of  Uterature,  the  literature  of  the  Middle 
Ages  especially,  the  importance  of  the  immediate  environ- 
ment has  been  recognized,  and  a  good  deal  of  recent  research 
has  been  devoted  to  geographical  and  historical  setting,  to 
contemporary  manners,  customs,  and  superstitions.  Much 
less  of  zeal  and  interest  has  been  expended  on  the  study  of 
contemporary  theology.  The  religion  of  the  Middle  Ages 
has  too  often  been  dismissed  rather  curtly  with  casual  men- 
tion of  "medieval  theology"  or  "monkish  notions,"  and 
treated  as  a  static,  undisputed  body  of  behef,  fixed  and 
immutable  from  the  sixth  century  to  the  sixteenth.  One 
reason  for  this  is  probably  that  while  the  average  modern 
man  has  drifted  too  far  from  dogmatic  theology  to  recognize 
its  mfluence  instinctively  it  is  still  too  close  to  him  to  arouse 
attention  and  stimulate  interest.  It  would,  however,  be  ad- 
mitted that  no  department  of  human  activity  remains 
unchanged  throughout  the  centuries,  and  that  for  the 
thousand  years  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  best  intellectual 
capacity  and  attainment  were  devoted  to  questions  of  God 
and  the  soul,  and  the  relation  between  them.  On  the  answers 
to  these  questions  and  on  the  dutiful  acceptance  of  them 
depended  man's  salvation;  that  is,  his  rescue  from  literal 
damnation  and  his  ultimate  attainment  of  heaven.  By 
religion  alone  could  he  hope  to  be  saved,  and  religion  was 
entrusted  to  the  church.  So  all  life  was  viewed  through  the 
glass  of  theology,  the  church's  dogmatic  expression  of  reli- 
gion, and  it  is  impossible  to  conceive  of  anything  more  closely 
related  to  conduct  or  more  hkely  to  be  reflected  in  all  forms 
of  literature. 


INTRODUCTION  6 

In  the  religion  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  indeed  in  all  religion 
whatsoever,  there  is  the  element  of  mysticism.  To  use  the 
words  "mystic  vision"  in  a  title  is  to  involve  oneself  in 
an  apology  at  the  outset.  The  word  "mystic"  has  as  wide 
a  mantle  as  charity  and  covers  a  multitude  of  follies  if  not 
of  sins.  Mysticism  is  only  too  often  a  loose  term  for  any 
spiritual  manifestation  difficult  of  explanation,  and  in  con- 
sequence is  dismissed  by  many  people  as  synonymous  with 
moonshine.  It  is  applied  to  everything  outside  the  plainest 
matter  of  fact,  from  Piers  Ploughman's  vision  to  the  latest 
fashion  in  eastern  cults.  But,  as  has  been  well  said,  a  man 
is  not  a  visionary  when  he  has"  a  vision,  but  only  when  he 
has  nothing  else,  and  the  genuine  mystic  is  usually  a  sur- 
prisingly direct  person,  his  mysticism,  to  himself,  really  a 
very  simple  (one  wants  to  say  practical)  matter.  Accepting 
the  proposition  that  to  know  God  is  the  chief  end  and  aim  of 
existence,  he  finds  that  such  knowledge  comes  to  him  by 
other  faculties  than  the  rational.  It  is  by  intuition  that 
he  attains  the  mystic  vision  in  which  he  claims  to  realize 
absolute  truth  and  to  taste  absolute  blessedness. 

This  spiritual  attitude  is  peculiar  to  no  age,  nationality, 
nor  form  of  religion.  There  have  always  been  those  who 
did  not  even  try  "by  searching  to  find  out  God."  To  them, 
when  ripe  for  the  experience,  there  came  direct,  intuitive 
knowledge  of  Him.  There  are,  of  course,  degrees  of  illumina- 
tion; souls  vary  in  their  capacity  to  receive  light,  and  an 
inferior  capacity  may  be  increased  by  means  of  contempla- 
tion and  spiritual  exercises;  but  in  each  degree  the  mystic 
vision  is  the  nearest  approach  to  the  final  vision  of  God 
attainable  by  man  while  still  in  the  flesh.  It  is  an  endow- 
ment akin  to  the  artistic  gift  —  that  intuitive,  uninstructed, 
unexplainable  choice  of  the  true  color,  the  right  line,  the 
harmonizing  note,  the  inevitable  word: 

God  has  a  few  of  us  whom  He  whispers  in  the  ear: 
The  rest  may  reason  and  welcome. 


4  INTRODUCTION 

Neo-Platonic  ecstasy  was  such  an  experience,  as  was  also 
the  gnosis  of  Alexandria.  Such,  too,  is  the  top  rung  of  the 
ladder  of  contemplation  and  the  "inner  light"  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  George  Fox.  But  always  and  everywhere  it  is  the 
foretaste  of  the  fruition  of  God. 

Though  the  mystic  approach  to  the  divine  is  a  spiritual 
experience,  widespread  and  persistent,  its  manifestations 
are  as  varied  as  those  of  every  other  human  experience. 
Broadly  speaking,  the  mystic  is  a  soul  apart;  his  revelation 
is  direct;  a  way  is  opened  before  him.  Those  who  attempt 
to  follow  in  his  footsteps,  lacking  the  direct  light,  are  misled 
by  wandering  fires.  There  are,  however,  exceptions  to  this 
state  of  isolation,  and  one  of  the  best  defined  is  the  mystic 
school  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

The  school,  often  called  by  historians  of  medieval  phi- 
losophy that  of  the  scholastic  mystics,^  is  remarkable  not 
only  because  it  may  be  called  a  school  at  all,  but  because 
its  representatives  united  fervent  mystical  devotion  not 
only  to  orthodoxy,  but  to  one  of  the  most  rigid  of  all  ex- 
pressions of  it,  the  scholastic  theology  consummated  in  the 
work  of  Aquinas.  The  manifestations  of  this  particular  form 
of  mysticism  must  later  be  discussed  at  some  length,  but 
at  this  point  we  may  say  that  it  found  one  way  of  attaining 
its  goal,  the  knowledge  of  God,  in  the  means  of  grace  afforded 
by  the  church,  especially  in  its  sacramental  system.  These 
scholastic  mystics  lived  at  the  time  when  the  sacraments  of 
the  church  were  attaining  a  position  of  very  great  impor- 
tance in  theological  discussion. 

Chief  among  sacraments  is  the  eucharist,  for  in  it  sign 
and  thing  signified  are  one,  even  Christ,  and  so  by  its  means 
man  attains  on  earth  to  communion  with  God.  Controver- 
sies as  to  the  exact  nature  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar  took  the  place  of  the  controversies  over 

1  Cf.  W.  R.  Inge,  Christian  Mysticism,  p.  140;  M,  de  Wulf,  History 
oj  Medieval  Philosophy,  tr.  Coffey,  p.  215. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

the  Trinity  and  the  Incarnation  which  engrossed  the  early 
church,  and,  as  a  result  of  these  controversies,  the  eucharist 
became  for  the  later  Middle  Ages  the  focus  of  all  worship  as 
well  as  the  supreme  means  of  grace  and  of  participation  in 
the  divine  life.  Eucharistic  devotion  colored  all  ritual  and 
influenced  all  forms  of  art.  The  daily  mass  was  the  daily 
miracle  of  the  presence  of  God,  and  was  so  accepted,  in 
some  sense  or  other,  by  every  christened  man,  —  peasant, 
priest,  or  knight.  Around  it  gathered  much  gross  super- 
stition, it  is  true,  but  also  much  artistic  expression  and 
poetic  fervor. 

Mysticism  is  an  attitude  of  the  human  spirit,  ubiquitous 
and  perpetual,  and  by  the  thirteenth  century  it  had  adjusted 
itself  to  the  sacramental  system  of  the  church.  It  was  a 
vital  part  of  human  experience,  and  as  such  must  be  reflected 
in  contemporary  literature;  its  omission  would  require  far 
more  explanation  than  its  inclusion.  But  before  we  can  dis- 
cuss intelligently  specific  instances  of  literary  influence  we 
must  examine  the  evidence  for  the  conspicuous  importance 
of  eucharistic  devotion  in  the  rehgious  life  of  the  time,  and 
trace  the  development  of  the  doctrine  concerning  the  eu- 
charist chiefly  responsible  for  such  importance;  the  doctrine, 
namely,  of  transubstantiation. 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION  IN  HISTORY, 
THEOLOGY,   AND   DEVOTION 

Se  nascens  dedit  socium, 
Convescens  in  edulium, 
Se  moriens  in  pretium, 
Se  regnans  dat  in  praemium. 

O  salutaris  hostia, 
Quae  coeli  pandis  ostium, 
Bella  premunt  hostilia, 
Da  robur,  fer  auxilium. 

—  Thomas  Aqxjinas 


TRANSUBSTANTIATION   IN   HISTORY, 
THEOLOGY,   AND   DEVOTION 


In  the  month  of  November,  1215,  there  assembled  in 
Rome  the  twelfth  ecumenical  council,  historically  known  as 
the  Fourth  Lateran,  but  commonly  cited  in  canon  law  as 
"the  general  Council  of  the  Lateran"  without  further  quali- 
fication, or  again,  as  "  the  Great  Council."  ^  It  came  together 
at  the  call  of  Innocent  III,  who  had  long  dreamed  of  pre- 
siding over  such  a  gathering,  and  it  was  at  once  the  climax 
and  conclusion  of  his  career  —  he  died  a  few  months  later 
—  and  the  supreme  moment  of  the  papacy  as  an  unques- 
tioned authority  in  European  affairs. 

Innocent  HI  (Lotario  de'Conti  di  Segni,  c.  1160-1216) 
was  of  noble  birth  and  educated  in  the  most  approved 
manner  of  the  Middle  Ages.  After  his  early  training  in 
Rome  he  went  to  the  university  of  Paris,  where,  under  Peter 
of  Corbeil,  he  laid  the  foundations  of  his  profound  knowledge 
of  scholastic  philosophy;  later,  at  Bologna,  he  acquired  as 
thoroughly  canon  and  civil  law.  He  seemed  preeminently  a 
scholar,  and,  though  he  attained  some  eminence  in  church 
affairs,  he  did  not  advance  beyond  the  diaconate,  having 
been  created  cardinal-deacon  by  his  uncle  Clement  HI. 
His  uncle  was  succeeded  by  Celestine  HI,  who  belonged  to 
the  rival  family  of  the  Orsini,  so  Lotario  withdrew  from 
active  affairs  and  devoted  himself  to  study.  In  his  retire- 
ment he  produced,  among  other  works,  six  books  under  the 
title,  Mysterium  evangelicae  legis  ac  sacramenti  eucharistiae, 
interesting  in  view  of  his  subsequent  official  pronouncement 
*  Cf.  H.  Leclercq,  Cath.  Enc.,  Art.  Lateran. 


10  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

in  regard  to  eucharistic  doctrine.  After  the  death  of  the 
Orsini  pope  he  was  unanimously  elected  to  the  papacy,  and, 
in  order  to  qualify  for  it,  passed  through  the  stages  of  priest 
and  bishop  on  successive  days.  Thus,  when  less  than 
forty,  he  found  himself  qualified  by  birth,  training,  and 
position  to  assert  afresh  the  papal  supremacy  claimed  by 
Hildebrand,  and  by  force  of  character  and  personality  to 
make  the  claim  a  reality. 

After  most  imposing  ceremonies  of  accession,  which  in- 
cluded a  great  procession.  Innocent  turned  his  attention  to 
the  affairs  of  Rome.  He  reduced  the  warring  factions  to 
order  and  induced  the  populace  to  forego  in  his  favor  its 
ancient  claim  to  elect  the  senate.  He  vested  the  executive 
powers  of  the  senate  in  a  single  senator,  directly  or  indirectly 
selected  by  himself.  He  found  Italy  restless  and  sullen  under 
the  imperial  rule  of  Henry  VI,  and,  taking  advantage  of  the 
strife  between  rival  factions  after  the  early  death  of  that 
emperor,  he  cleared  the  great  Italian  fiefs  of  German  feu- 
datories, deposed  the  imperial  prefect  in  Rome  itself,  and 
saw  to  it  that  his  own  redores  governed  the  patrimony  of 
St.  Peter.^  So  within  one  year  of  his  election  to  the  papacy 
he  succeeded  in  putting  pope  above  emperor  in  Italy,  in 
token  whereof  he  managed  to  be  appointed  guardian  of  the 
infant  son  of  Henry  VI,  the  future  Frederick  II. 

From  this  secure  standing  point  he  proceeded  to  make  his 
authority  felt  all  over  Europe.  His  quarrel  with  England 
is  the  best  known  instance  of  this  assertion  of  papal  rights. 
There  he  used  interdict  and  excommunication  to  support 
his  claim  to  bestow  preferment,  enforcing  his  contention 
with  a  high  and  heavy  hand,  the  weight  of  which  was  never 
forgotten.  The  English  episode  is,  however,  only  one  among 
many.  He  excommunicated  Alfonso  I  of  Leon  for  marry- 
ing within  the  forbidden  degrees,  and  for  similar  reasons 

^  Cf.  Gregorovius,  History  of  the  City  of  Rome  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
Bk.  IX. 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  11 

annulled  the  marriage  of  the  crown  prmce  Alfonso  of  Portu- 
gal. Pedro  II  of  Aragon  submitted  as  the  pope's  vassal 
and  received  coronation  at  his  hand.  He  was  arbiter  between 
two  rival  claimants  to  the  throne  of  Norway,  and  acted  in 
the  same  capacity  in  Sweden.  He  prepared  a  crusade  against 
the  Moors  in  Spain,  and  undertook  the  Fourth  Crusade  while 
doing  his  utmost  for  the  Latinization  of  the  Eastern  Empire. 
As  champion  of  orthodoxy  he  instituted  the  crusade  of 
obliteration  against  the  Albigenses.  If  not  the  originator  of 
the  famous  comparison  of  the  spiritual  power  to  the  sun  and 
the  temporal  to  the  moon,  so  bitterly  discussed  by  Dante,^ 
he  was  its  undaunted  champion.  His  profound  knowledge 
of  both  civil  and  canon  law  furnished  him  the  machinery 
for  his  purpose:  the  driving  power  came  from  his  sincere 
belief  in  theocracy  "^  and  his  own  indomitable  will  and  per- 
sonality. Says  Gregorovius,  "The  spectacle  of  a  man  who, 
if  only  for  the  moment,  ruled  the  world  according  to  his 
will  in  tranquil  majesty  is  sublime  and  marvellous."  ^ 

No  greater  opportunity  to  display  this  majesty  can  be 
conceived  than  that  afforded  by  a  General  Council,  which 
was  for  a  pope  of  the  Middle  Ages  what  a  great  feudal  gath- 
ering was  for  king  or  emperor.*  The  pope's  imperious  sum- 
mons to  Christendom  was  issued  more  than  two  years  before 
the  actual  assembling,  and  excuses  were  not  well  received. 
Prelates  were  to  come  to  Rome  if  possible;  but  if  age 
or  infirmity  could  be  pleaded  they  were  commanded  to 

^  De  Monorchia,  III:  iv. 

^  To  the  ambassadors  of  Philip  Augustus  he  said:  "To  princes 
power  is  given  on  earth,  but  to  priests  it  is  attributed  also  in  heaven; 
the  former  only  over  bodies,  but  the  latter  also  over  souls.  Whence  it 
follows  that  by  so  much  as  the  soul  is  superior  to  the  body,  the  priest- 
hood is  superior  to  the  kingship."  —  Cit.  W.  A.  Phillips,  Enc.  Brit., 
Art.  Innocent  III. 

3  Op.  cit.  Bk.  IX:  III:  i. 

*  Cf.  A.  Luchaire,  Innocent  III  et  le  quatrieme  concile  de  Latran, 
Rev.  historique,  XCVII:  225-263. 


12  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

send  responsible  representatives  under  threat  of  canonical 
discipline. 

The  urgency  of  the  summons  and  the  length  of  time 
allowed  in  which  to  obey  it  account  in  part  for  the  vast  size 
of  the  gathering,  perhaps  the  greatest  ecclesiastical  assembly 
the  world  has  ever  seen.  Over  four  hundred  bishops  were  in 
attendance,  and  many  others  were  represented  by  high 
ecclesiastics.  Eight  hundred  abbots  and  the  Latin  patri- 
archs, established  in  the  East  by  Innocent,  appeared.  There 
were  also  representatives  of  the  Emperor  Frederick  II,  the 
Latin  emperor  of  Constantinople,  the  kings  of  England, 
France,  Aragon,  Hungary  and  Jerusalem.  The  scene  of 
the  council,  the  Lateran,  to  Dante  "supreme  above  all 
mortal  things,"  ^  was  a  fitting  background  for  the  pomp  of 
the  gathering. 

The  three  great  sessions,  about  a  fortnight  apart,  were 
held  in  the  basilica  of  St.  John  Lateran. ^  In  it  a  raised  throne 
had  been  erected  for  the  sovereign  pontiff,  who,  says  Rich- 
ard, "showed  himself  coming  forth  as  a  bridegroom  from 
his  chamber,  and  ascending,  took  his  seat  on  the  tribunal 
to  which  centurions  and  tribunes  advanced."  ^  A  fanfare 
of  trumpets  proclaimed  silence  when  the  ruler  of  rulers 
would  speak,  a  necessary  measure,  probably,  in  view  of  the 
size  of  the  audience.    The  crowd  at  the  opening  service  was 

^  "quando  Laterano 

Alle  cose  mortali  ando  di  sopra." 

Paradiso,  XXXI:  35,  36. 

*  For  details  of  this  council  I  am  indebted  to  the  article  by  Lu- 
chaire  to  which  I  have  ab-eady  referred,  p.  11.  He  gives  as  his  chief 
authority  on  the  council  Richard  de  St.  Germano,  notary  to  Frederick 
II.  "II  assista  au  concile  et  I'a  decrit  en  t6moin  qui  sait  voir  et  en- 
tendre."    p.  236. 

*  "Se  manifestavit  .  .  .  egrediens  tamquam  sponsus  de  thalamo 
suo  et  ascendens  sedit  pro  tribunali,  cui  centviriones  suberant  et  tri- 
buni."  On  this  Luchaire  comments  (p.  240):  "Expressions  classiques 
par  lesqueUes  le  notaire  de  Frederic  II,  qui  a  fait  ses  humanit^s,  d^signe 
sans  doute  les  gardes  pontificaux." 


THEOLOGY,    AND   DEVOTION  13 

SO  great  that  it  is  said  one  ecclesiastic,  the  bishop  of  Araalfi, 
fell  in  the  press  and  was  trampled  to  death,  and  that  on 
another  occasion  one  or  more  delegates  were  smothered. 

It  was,  however,  at  the  third  session,  November  30,  that 
the  Pope  read  the  seventy  canons  which  he  had  prepared. 
It  is  generally  admitted  that  there  was  no  discussion  and 
that  the  council,  without  more  ado,  promulgated  the  canons 
as  matters  of  faith.^  In  the  very  first  of  them  the  orthodox 
faith  was  proclaimed,  and  for  the  first  time  the  doctrine 
of  the  eucharist  was  brought  into  the  proceedings  of  a  Gen- 
eral Council.^  After  the  statement  of  the  great  Christian 
mysteries  of  the  Trinity  and  Incarnation,  the  canon  pro- 
ceeded to  the  assertion  that  outside  the  universal  church  of 
the  faithful  none  can  be  saved.  In  it  priest  as  well  as  sacri- 
fice is  Christ  Himself,  whose  body  and  blood  are  contained 
in  that  sacrament  of  the  altar  under  the  species  of  bread  and 
wine,  transubstantiated,  the  bread  into  the  body  and  the 
wine  into  the  blood,  by  divine  power,  in  order  that  for  the 
completion  of  the  mystery  of  unity  we  may  ourselves  receive 
of  His  what  He  received  of  ours.^ 

"What  is  important  here,"  says  Harnack,  "is  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  eucharist  is  immediately  attached  to  the 
confession  of  the  Trinity  and  Incarnation.  In  this  way  it 
is  represented  even  in  the  symbol  as  having  a  most  intimate 
relation  to  these  doctrines,   as,  indeed,  forming  with  them  a 

^  "The  fathers  of  the  council  did  little  more  than  approve  the 
seventy  decrees  presented  to  them;  this  approbation,  nevertheless, 
sufficed  to  impart  to  the  acts  thus  formulated  and  promulgated  the 
value  of  ecumenical  decrees."     Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Lateran. 

*  Cf.  Hastings'  Enc.,  Art.  Councils  and  Synods. 

^  "Una  vero  est  fideUum  universalis  ecclesia,  extra  quam  nullua 
omnino  salvatur.  In  qua  idem  ipse  sacerdos,  et  sacrificium  Jesus 
Christus;  cujus  corpus  et  sanguis  in  sacramento  altaris  sub  speciebus 
panis  et  vini  veraciter  continentur;  transubstantiatis,  pane  in  corpus, 
et  vino  in  sanguinem,  potestate  Divina,  ut  ad  perficiendum  mysterium 
unitatis  accipiamus  ipsi  de  suo  quod  accepit  ipse  de  nostro."  —  Mansi, 
XXII:  982. 


14  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

unity  .  .  .  the  real  presence  obtained  the  same  value  as 
the  Trinity  and  the  two-nature  doctrine,  so  that  every  one 
was  regarded  as  an  ecclesiastical  anarchist  who  called  it  in 
question."  Harnack  goes  on  to  say  that  "the  n^l^lty  in 
the  symbol  —  the  direct  attachment  of  the  eucharist  dogma 
to  the  Trinity  and  Christology  —  is  the  most  distinctive  and 
boldest  act  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Compared  with  this 
immense  inno\Kation  the  addition  of  the  'filioque'  weighs 
very  lightly."  ^ 

The  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  was  thus  explicitly 
and  finally  estabhshed  as  the  orthodox  belief  of  all  Christian 
men,  and  to  deny  it  was  to  read  oneself  out  of  the  church 
militant  and  triumphant.  Innocent  had  not  only  demon- 
strated the  authority  he  had  asserted,  but  had  secured  an 
immense  backing  for  the  points  of  doctrine  and  discipline 
which  he  wished  to  emphasize. ^  Richard  says  it  was  in 
honor  of  the  Trinity  that  the  pope  completed  the  council 
on  the  third  day,'  but  whatever  the  motive,  the  great  pope, 
using  as  a  mouthpiece  the  greatest  ecclesiastical  assembly 
the  world  has  ever  seen,  took  three  days  to  end  the  con- 
troversies of  three  centuries,  and  to  declare  definitely  and 
authoritatively  the  consecrated  host  identical  with  Christ, 
and  so  the  cornerstone  of  the  church.^ 

^  A.  Harnack,  History  of  Dogma,  VI:  53  ff. 

2  Cf.  Luchaire,  op.  cit.  227.  "  L'assemblee  europ^enne  de  1215  a 
6t6  le  signe  visible,  ^clatant,  de  la  suprematie  spirituelle  et  temporelle 
conquise  sur  le  monde  par  la  monarchie  romaine,  telle  que  I'avait 
faite  Innocent  III.  Mais  il  y  a  autre  chose.  Le  programme  de  concile 
comportait  des  resolutions  a  prendre  d'une  telle  importance  qu'il  fallait 
que  l'universalit6  des  fideles  Mt  la  pour  donner  les  sanctions  n6cessaires." 

3  "Sicque  propter  causam  Trinitatis  pontifex  sanctam  synodum 
trina  sezione  complevit."  —  Cit.  Luchaire,  page  241. 

*  "If  there  was  one  doctrine  upon  which  the  supremacy  of  the 
medieval  church  rested,  it  was  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation.  It 
was  by  his  exclusive  right  to  the  performance  of  the  miracle  which  was 
wrought  in  the  mass  that  the  lowliest  priest  was  raised  high  above 
princes."  —  J.  R.  Green,  History  of  the  English  People,  Bk.  IV:  iv. 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  15 

II 

Considering  that  the  "breaking  of  bread"  with  "prayers"  ^ 
was  from  the  beginning  the  central  act  of  Christian  wor- 
ship and  privilege  of  initiation,  it  is  not  surprising  that  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  nature  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  eucharist 
and  the  means  whereby  it  is  effected  should  give  rise  to  con- 
troversy, and  if  the  records  of  the  controversies  themselves 
are  voluminous,  comment  on  the  controversies  is  literally 
interminable.  We  are  here  concerned  chiefly  with  the  dis- 
putes arising  in  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  which 
continued,  with  more  or  less  intermittent  fervor,  until  their 
official  and  triumphant  settlement  at  the  Great  Council. 
Any  outline  of  them  must  condense  scores  of  years  and 
volumes  of  argument  into  sentences,  but  it  is  worth  while 
to  make  the  attempt  to  gain  an  idea  of  the  clash  of  opinion 
which  was  effectively  ended  in  1215,  only  to  be  renewed  by 
the  teaching  of  Wyclif . 

In  the  ninth  century  Paschasius,  a  monk  of  Corbey, 
maintained  that  in  the  eucharist  the  bread  is  converted  into 
the  very  body  of  Christ.  Ratramnus  of  the  same  abbey 
defended  the  opinion  that  there  is  no  conversion  of  the  bread 
and  that  though  the  body  of  Christ  is  present,  it  is  in  a 
spiritual  way.  "Scotus  Erigena  had  supported  the  view  that 
the  sacraments  of  the  altar  are  figures  of  the  body  of  Christ; 
that  they  are  a  memorial  of  the  true  body  and  blood  of 
Christ."  2  But  it  was  only  in  the  eleventh  century  that  the 
whole  matter  attained  a  very  fury  of  controversy  as  a  con- 
sequence of  the  teaching  of  Berengarius,  director  of  the 
Cathedral  School  at  Tours..  He  adopted  the  spiritualized 
theory  of  Ratramnus  and  Scotus,  holding  that  the  whole 
body  of  Christ  is  received  by  the  heart,  not  by  the  mouth.^ 

1  Ads,  II:  42. 

^  G.  M.  Sauvage,  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Berengarius. 
^  "Christi  corpus  totum  constat  accipi   ab   interiore  homine,  fide- 
lium  corde,  non  ore." 


16  TRANBUBSTANTIATION   IN   HISTORY 

Berengarius  more  than  once  signed  retractions  only  to 
attack  them,  and  it  is  difficult  to  make  a  clear  statement  of 
his  teaching.  A  summary  from  the  Roman  Catholic  point 
of  view  is,  therefore,  of  special  value. 

"In  order  to  understand  his  opinion,  we  must  observe 
that,  in  philosophy,  Berengarius  had  rationalistic  tendencies 
and  was  a  nominalist.  Even  in  the  study  of  questions  of 
faith,  he  held  that  reason  is  the  best  guide.  Reason,  how- 
ever, is  dependent  upon  and  is  limited  by  sense  perception. 
Authority,  therefore,  is  not  conclusive;  we  must  reason 
according  to  the  data  of  our  senses.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
Berengarius  denied  transubstantiation  (we  mean  the  sub- 
stantive conversion  expressed  by  the  word;  the  word  was 
used  for  the  first  time  by  Hildebert  of  Lavardin) ;  it  is  not 
absolutely  certain  that  he  denied  the  real  presence,  though 
he  certainly  held  false  views  concerning  it.  Is  the  body  of 
Christ  present  in  the  eucharist,  and  in  what  manner?  On 
this  question  the  authorities  appealed  to  by  Berengarius  are, 
besides  Scotus  Erigena,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose,  and  St. 
Augustine.  These  fathers  taught  that  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar  is  the  figure,  the  sign,  the  token  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  the  Lord.  These  terms,  in  their  mind,  apply  to  what  is 
external  and  sensible  in  the  holy  eucharist,  and  do  not,  in 
any  way,  imply  the  negation  of  the  real  presence  of  the  true 
body  of  Christ.  (St.  Aug.  Serm.  143,  n.  3:  Gerbert,  Lihellus 
de  Corp.  e  Sang.  Domini,  n.  4.  Migne,  CLXXXIX:  177.) 
For  Berengarius  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  really 
present  in  the  holy  eucharist;  but  the  presence  is  an  in- 
tellectual or  spiritual  presence.  The  substance  of  the  bread 
and  the  substance  of  the  wine  remain  unchanged  in  their 
nature,  but  by  consecration  they  become  spiritually  the  very 
body  and  blood  of  Christ.  This  spiritual  body  of  Christ  is 
the  res  sacramenti;  the  bread  and  the  wine  are  the  figure,, 
the  sign,  the  token,  sacr amentum."  ^ 
^  Sauvage,  op.  cit. 


1^ 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  17 

Berengarius  made  final  retraction  and  died  in  union  with 
the  church  in  1088,  but  the  influence  of  his  principles  was 
widespread,  for  pupils  had  come  to  him  from  all  parts  of 
France,  and  his  teaching  was  attacked  by  leading  theolo- 
gians, among  them  Lanfranc,  Durandus,  and  the  Benedic- 
tines. "The  transmutation  theory  of  Paschasius  .  .  .  was 
further  developed  by  the  opponents  of  Berengar,^  First, 
the  mystery  was  conceived  of  still  more  sensuously,  at  least 
by  some  (manducatio  infidelium) ;  secondly,  there  was  a 
beginning,  though  with  caution,  to  apply  to  dogma  the 
'science'  that  was  discredited  in  the  opponent.  The  crude 
conceptions  (which  embraced  the  total  conversion)  were  put 
aside  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  unite  the  older  deliver- 
ances of  tradition  with  the  new  transmutation  doctrine,  as 
also  to  adopt  the  Augustinian  terminology,  by  means  of 
dialectic  distinctions,  to  the  still  coarsely  reaUstic  view  of 
the  subject."  ^ 
The  Roman  Catholic  view  of  this  development  is  as  follows: 
"The  error  of  Berengarius,  as  is  the  case  with  other 
heresies,  was  the  occasion  which  favored  and  even  necessi- 
tated, a  more  explicit  presentation  and  a  more  precise  for- 
mulation of  Catholic  doctrine  about  the  holy  eucharist.  .  .  . 
The  Council  of  Rome,  in  1079,  in  its  condemnation  of 
Berengarius,  expresses  more  clearly  than  any  document 
before  it  the  nature  of  this  substantial  change.  .  .  .  Though 
the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi  was  officially  established  only  in 
the  thirteenth  century,  its  institution  was  probably  occa- 
sioned by  these  eucharistic  controversies.  The  same  may  be 
said  of  the  ceremony  of  the  elevation  of  the  host  after  the 
consecration  of  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass."  ^    And  again: 

^  "Yet  everything  acquired  settled  form  only  in  the  thirteenth 
century;  the  questions  resulting  from  the  new  doctrine  are  innu- 
merable."   Harnack,  op.  dt.,  VI:  51n. 

^  Harnack,  op.  cit.,  VI:  51. 

*  Sauvage,  op.  dt. 


18  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

"After  the  Berengarian  controversy  the  blessed  sacra- 
ment was  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  elevated  for 
the  express  purpose  of  repairing  by  its  adoration  the  blas- 
phemies of  heretics  and  strengthening  the  imperilled  faith 
of  Catholics.  In  the  thirteenth  century  were  introduced 
for  the  greater  glorification  of  the  Most  Holy,  the  theophoric 
processions  .  .  .  and  also  the  feast  of  Corpus  Christi."  ^ 

Whether  this  shift  of  emphasis  and  consequent  supreme 
exaltation  of  the  eucharist  be  viewed  as  innovation  or  repa- 
ration, there  can  be  no  question  that  in  the  later  Middle 
Ages  the  eucharist  was  viewed  not  only  as  the  continual 
extension  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  centre  of  Christian 
worship,  but  was  also  the  supreme  expression  of  all  spiritual 
life  and  the  focus  of  devotional  expression,  poetry,  and 
drama.2 

III 

We  come  now  to  the  relation  of  this  preeminent  impor- 
tance of  the  eucharist  to  that  mysticism  which,  ut  semper, 

^  J.  Pohle,  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Eucharist. 

*  "Worship  and  adoration  found  a  striking  and  noble  expression  in 
the  medieval  mass,  and  in  the  prayers  contained  in  some  of  the  popu- 
lar books  of  instruction.  To  the  men  of  the  Middle  Ages  the  mass 
was  the  mystery  par  excellence  of  the  church.  Around  it  there  gathered 
all  the  splendor  which  art  and  music  could  provide.  .  .  .  The  medieval 
mass  kept  the  memory  of  the  passion  of  Christ  vividly  before  the 
minds  of  the  worshippers.  The  popular  books  of  devotion  and  the 
mystical  commentators  on  the  mass  ahke  emphasize  the  conception 
of  the  mass  as  a  sacred  drama  exhibiting  and  rehearsing  again  and 
again  the  story  of  the  Lord's  passion  'until  He  come.'"  —  J.  H. 
Shrawley,  Hastings'  Enc.  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  Art.  Eucharist  to 
End  of  Middle  Ages. 

"In  the  sacrament  of  the  Supper  and  the  doctrine  regarding  it, 
the  church  gave  expression  to  everything  that  it  highly  prized  —  its 
dogma,  its  mystical  relation  to  Christ,  the  fellowship  of  believers,  the 
priest,  the  sacrifice,  the  miraculous  power  which  God  had  given  to 
His  church,  the  satisfaction  of  the  sensuous  impulse  in  piety,  and  so 
forth."  —  Harnack,  op.  cit.  VI:  233  f. 


THEOLOGY,    AND   DEVOTION  19 

uhique  et  ah  omnibus,  concerns  itself  with  the  immediate 
contact  of  the  soul  with  the  divine.  Varying  in  its  expres- 
sion with  various  religions,  with  various  conceptions  of  the 
soul  and  God,  it  is  always  somewhere  in  the  life  of  man. 
Always  there  are  some  to  whom  it  is  given  to  experience  while 
still  in  the  flesh  some  of  the  freedom  of  the  released  soul,  to 
realize  the  love  of  God  and  to  become  one  with  Him.  The 
ecstasy  of  Platonic  love  takes  the  soul  back  to  the  divine 
from  which  it  came;  and  Philo,  Hellenized  Jew,  found  in 
contemplation  the  means  of  putting  the  soul  into  that  way 
of  return,  the  path  of  direct,  intuitive  knowledge  of  God. 
Plotinus,  though  he  developed  this  contact  with  God  into 
coalescence  with  Him,  found  material  existence  an  estrange- 
ment, and  was  forced  to  admit  that  even  for  the  most  expert 
these  times  of  union  must  be  brief  and  occasional.  To  the 
Christian  Platonists  of  Alexandria  this  direct  knowledge,  or 
gnosis,  was  above  faith,  which  they  regarded  as  the  cut  and 
dried  expression  of  truth,  sufficient  for  those  who,  for  lack 
of  direct  knowledge,  must  needs  take  it  at  second  hand. 

It  is  not  specially  difficult  to  see  that  while  in  the  higher 
type  of  men  such  theories  produce  characters  of  the  loftiest 
virtue,  there  are  likely  to  be  also  exceedingly  unlovely 
results.  The  notion  of  one's  own  private  enlightenment 
and  law  entirely  demoralizes  the  wilful  soul,  who  finds  in  it 
justification  for  breaking  all  bounds  of  ethics  and  morals, 
and  so  spiritual  freedom  rapidly  degenerates  into  carnal 
license.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  to  find  the  law- 
abiding  Roman  mind  distrusting  mystic  philosophy  and 
laying  stress  on  the  reality  of  sin  and  the  need  of  forgiveness: 
only  by  process  of  repentance  and  amendment  of  life  is  one 
entitled  to  expect  union  with  God.  For  Augustine  the  love 
of  God  is  not  only  the  means  of  knowing  Him,  but  the  motive 
of  obedience  to  His  laws.  The  rare  moments  in  which  man, 
losing  himself,  finds  God,  whose  fruition  is  the  essence  of 
eternal  life,  must  needs  have  the  effect  of  convincing  the 


20  TRAN  SUBSTANTIATION    IN   HISTORY 

favored  soul  that  sin  will  automatically  cut  him  off  from 
such  fulfilment  here  and  hereafter. 

The  speculative  mysticism  of  Neo-Platonism  found  expres- 
sion in  terms  acceptable  to  practical  western  Christianity 
in  the  writings  of  the  pseudo-Dionysius,  which  were  of  course 
believed  to  date  back  to  the  age  immediately  following  that 
of  the  apostles.  Chief  of  these  is  the  Celestial  and  Ecclesi- 
astical Hierarchy,  of  which  the  first  part  treats  of  the  way 
to  God,  leading  from  the  lower  creation  up  through  the 
angels  in  all  their  ranks.  These  favored  beings  attain  the 
end  of  all  created  things,  the  knowledge  of  God,  by  means 
of  direct  intuition;  they  perceive  the  divme  essence  accord- 
ing to  the  laws  of  their  existence  as  pure  intelligences. 
Dionysius  explains  that  the  second  part  of  his  work  is 
called  the  Ecclesiastical  rather  than  the  Earthly  Hierarchy 
because  it,  no  less  than  the  Celestial,  has  for  its  goal  the 
knowledge  of  God,  but  of  God  as  revealed  in  Christ  incar- 
nate. As  man  is  by  nature  incapable  of  the  direct  intuition 
of  God  vouchsafed  to  the  heavenly  orders,  he  is  entirely 
dependent  on  material  symbols,  by  means  of  which  he  may 
attain  such  contemplation  of  God  as  his  capacity  allows. 
These  material  symbols  are  the  sacraments  intrusted  to  the 
hierarchy  of  the  church,  and  so  by  sacerdotal  functions  he 
is  led  to  the  knowledge  of  God.  Dionysius  emphasizes 
three  symbolic  sacraments:  baptism,  representing  purifica- 
tion; the  eucharist,  illumination;  the  holy  chrism,  perfec- 
tion. Through  the  translation  of  Erigena  (c.  800-c.  877), 
the  theories  of  Dionysius  had  an  important  place  in  the 
religious  thinking  of  the  western  church,  and  through  them 
the  entirely  independent  and  individual  ecstasy  of  the 
Neo-Platonist  was  brought  within  the  bounds  of  ecclesias- 
tical discipline.^ 

In  the  eleventh  century,  which  saw  Hildebrand  develop- 
ing the  claim  of  the  church  to  rule  in  matters  temporal;  and 
1  For  citations  from  Dionysius,  vide.  App.  p.  119. 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  21 

adapting  all  the  methods  of  statecraft  and  politics  to  the 
support  of  that  claim,  and  which  heard  religious  discourse 
reduced  for  the  most  part  to  the  dialectic  of  the  schools, 
Bernard  of  Clairvaux  fanned  into  glowing  life  the  undying 
embers  of  mystic  contemplation  and  knowledge  of  God. 
His  mysticism  was  of  his  age.  As  a  schoolman  he  admitted 
certain  externally  imposed  truths  on  which  reason  may  act 
even  if  they  may  not  be  rationally  understood,  but  within 
their  limits  man  may,  by  the  grace  of  God,  know  God  and 
be  united  to  Him.  He  too  based  "the  ascent  of  the  soul 
towards  perfection  on  supernatural  grace,  the  communi- 
cation of  which  begins  in  the  present  life,"  ^  and  he  never 
doubted  that  this  communication  of  grace  comes  through 
the  church  and  its  ordinances.  Vindicator  of  orthodoxy 
against  the  great  Abelard,  he  escaped  the  suspicion  with 
which  ecclesiastical  authority  is  wont  to  regard  those  who 
claim  direct  —  and  undirected  —  vision,  and  so  came  nearer 
founding  a  school  than  any  other  of  the  great  mystics.^ 
The  Victorines  made  use  of  all  the  logical  apparatus  of  the 
day  to  systematize  the  mystic  emotion  of  Bernard  and  so 
developed  a  complete  code  of  the  laws  which  govern  the 
ascent  of  the  soul  to  God.  Bonaventura,  continuing  and 
developing  that  which  the  Victorines  had  laid  down,  carried 
to  its  highest  pitch  the  union  of  great  dogmatic  theologian 
and  fervent  contemplative  mystic.  But  even  Aquinas,  who 
stands  as  the  embodiment  of  the  scholastic  system,  reveals 
glowing  mystic  devotion  in  his  hymns  and  prayers. 

It  would  be  expected  that  in  this  school  of  orthodox 
mysticism  the  special  emphasis  of  the  day  on  sacramental 
grace  in  general  and  particularly  on  that  bestowed  by  the 
eucharist  would  have  its  effect,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
names  which  are  associated  with  the  opposition  to  Beren- 

1  de  Wulf,  op.  cit.,  p.  215. 

*  For  discussions  of  scholastic  mysticism,  vide.  Inge,  Christian  MyS' 
ticism,  p.  140,  and  de  Wulf,  op.  cit.,  pp.  212-218. 


22  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

garius,  and  which  are  noted  as  authorities  on  eucharistic 
doctrine  and  worship,  are  those  of  the  forerunners  of  the 
school,  —  Anselm  of  Canterbury,  Hildebert  of  Lavardin, 
and,  especially,  Honorius  of  Autun.  But  it  is  to  Hugh  of 
St.  Victor  that  we  must  look  for  the  fullest  and  most  impor- 
tant expression  of  the  relation  of  sacramental  grace  to  mys- 
tical experience,  —  a  relation  which,  as  we  have  seen,  is  found 
in  germ  in  the  work  of  Dionysius.  The  final  blessedness  of 
man  is  the  visio  Dei,  but  to  this  he  may  not  attain  without 
the  grace  of  God  received  through  the  sacraments.  Of  these 
the  eucharist  is  the  supreme  means  of  attaining  the  end,  for 
in  it  figure  and  essence  are  one  and  the  same,  even  Christ, 
Who  is  on  the  altar,  though  hidden  beneath  the  veil,  and 
Who  is  sacramentally  received  into  the  soul.^ 

It  is  very  much  easier  to  make  a  general  statement  of  this 
devotion  and  its  expression  than  to  convey  any  real  con- 
ception of  its  fervor  and  enthusiasm.     But  even  a  slight 

^  "Since  mystics  have,  as  a  rule,  the  extreme  susceptibihty  to  sug- 
gestions and  impressions  which  is  characteristic  of  all  artistic  and 
creative  types,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  that  their  ecstasies  are  often 
evoked,  abruptly,  by  the  exhibition  of,  or  concentration  upon,  some 
loved  and  special  symbol  of  the  divine.  Such  symbols  form  the  rally- 
ing points  about  which  are  gathered  a  whole  group  of  ideas  and  intui- 
tions. Their  presence  —  sometimes  the  sudden  thought  of  them  —  will 
be  enough,  in  psychological  language,  to  provoke  a  discharge  of  energy 
along  some  particular  path.  .  .  For  the  Christian  mystics,  the  sacra- 
ments and  mysteries  of  faith  have  always  provided  such  a  point  d' 
appui;  and  these  symbols  often  play  a  large  part  in  the  production  of 
their  ecstasies."  —  Underbill,  Mysticism,  p.  434,  5. 

"God  enkindles  in  the  souls  of  contemplatives  the  light  of  contem- 
plation which  represents  the  manner  and  design  by  which  the  body  of 
Christ  exists  under  the  sacramental  species,  as  a  king  on  his  throne 
with  a  curtain  or  veU  intervening,  as  a  glorious  sun  shaded  by  the 
passing  clouds,  as  a  fountain  of  Paradise  hidden  by  the  leaves  of  the 
sacramental  species,  from  which  issue  forth  fom*  rivers  of  grace,  of 
mercy,  of  charity  and  piety,  to  irrigate,  delight,  and  fructify  the  church 
and  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  who  drink  of  the  waters."  —  Godinez,  cit. 
A.  Devine,  A  Manual  of  Mystical  Theology,  p,  72, 


THEOLOGY,    AND   DEVOTION 


23 


acquaintance  with  the  thought  of  these  men  is  worth  acquir- 
ing, for  it  helps  in  placing  our  minds,  as  far  as  may  be,  in  a 
line  with  theirs. 

Hildebert  of  Lavardin  found  in  the  eucharist  the  food  of 
the  pilgrim  on  his  way  to  the  fatherland,  the  banquet  of 
man  with  angels,  perpetual  strength,  and  the  union  of  the 
creature  with  the  Creator.  Through  it  is  the  soul  worthy 
to  be  found  among  the  sheep,  chosen  with  the  good  fish, 
gathered  into  the  garner  of  the  Lord.^  At  the  supreme 
point  of  his  great  work,  De  Sacramentis,  Hugh  of  St.  Victor 
thus  summarizes  the  position  of  the  eucharist: 

"  The  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  is  that  in  which 
salvation  is  chiefly  to  be  found,  and  it  is  singular  among  them  all 
because  from  it  is  all  sanctification.  For  this  is  the  victim  per- 
petually offered  for  the  world's  salvation;  this  gives  efficacy  to 
all  sacraments  before  and  after  it."^ 

The  same  mystic  in  one  of  his  sermons '  declares  the  eucharist 
to  be  the  mystery  which  mitigates  the  inner  sorrow  of  the 
living,  heals  wounds,  drives  out  the  enemy,  deHvers  from 
evil,  strengthens  righteousness.  It  lessens  the  guilt  of  the 
dead,  remits  their  punishment,  opens  heaven,  and  assures 
eternal  life. 

The  whole  emotional  nature  of  Aquinas,  "venerabilis 
sacramenti  laudator  Thomas  summus,"  was  poured  out  in 
eucharistic  devotion.  Not  only  was  he  the  composer  of  the 
office  for  Corpus  Christi  day,  with  its  series  of  unsurpassed 
eucharistic  hymns,  but  his  prayer  before  communion  glows 
with  mystical  fervor. 

"  O  most  merciful  Lord,  grant  that  I  may  so  receive  the  body  of 
Thy  only  begotten  son,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  which  He  took  of 
the  Virgin  Mary,  that  I  may  be  worthy  to  be  incorporated  into  His 

1  Sermo,  Migne,  CLXXI:  604. 

2  II:  viii.   Migne,  CLXXVI:  461. 

»  Sermo  XCIY,  Sermones  Centum,  Migne,  CLXXVII:  1195. 


24  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

mystical  body  and  reckoned  among  its  members.  O  most  loving 
Father,  grant  me  that  Him  Whom  I,  on  my  pilgrimage,  now  pur- 
pose receiving  beneath  a  veil,  I  may  behold  with  unveiled  face 
throughout  eternity."  ^ 

The  same  note  of  the  eucharist  as  a  pledge  of  ultimate  bliss 
is  struck  in  the  prayer  after  communion: 

"I  pray  thee  that  this  holy  communion  may  not  be  to  me  an  oc- 
casion of  guilt  but  may  plead  for  my  salvation:  that  it  may  be 
my  armor  of  faith  and  shield  of  good  will  .  .  .  my  firm  defence 
against  the  evil  of  all  enemies,  \'isible  and  invisible  .  .  .  my  un- 
shakable cleaving  to  Thee,  the  true  and  only  God,  and  at  the  last 
my  happy  consummation.  And  I  pray  Thee,  that  Thou  wilt  hold 
me  worthy  to  attain  to  that  ineffable  festival  where  Thou  with 
Thy  Son  and  the  Holy  Spirit,  art  the  true  light  of  the  saints,  fuU 
satisfaction,  joy  fulfilled,  and  everlasting  felicity.* 

The  eucharistic  prayer  of  Bonaventura  is  even  more  im- 
passioned. To  him  the  eucharist  is  bread  of  angels,  refresh- 
ment of  holy  souls,  our  daily  bread  as  well  as  bread  of 
heaven,  having  all  savor.  By  means  of  it  the  soul  shares  in 
the  source  of  life,  of  wisdom  and  knowledge,  the  fountain 
of  eternal  life,  the  torrent  of  joy,  the  riches  of  the  house  of 
God.^  The  eucharistic  prayer  incorporated  in  the  Ancren 
Riwle  expresses  the  same  idea,  adopting  the  very  words  of 
St.  Paul  as  to  the  enigmatic  earthly  vision  which  is  the 
pledge  of  that  which  shall  be  face  to  face: 

"Grant,  we  beseech  Thee,  Almighty  God,  that  Him  Whom  we 
see  darkly  and  under  a  different  form,  and  on  Whom  we  feed  sacra- 
mentally  on  earth,  we  may  see  face  to  face,  and  may  be  thought 
worthy  to  enjoy  Him  truly  and  really  as  He  is  in  heaven."^ 

^  Bremarium  Romanum.  *  lb,  '  lb. 

*  Tr.  Morton.  "Concede,  quesumus,  omnipotens  Deus,  ut  quern 
enigmatice  et  sub  aliena  specie  cernimus,  quo  saeramentaliter  cibamur 
in  terris,  facie  ad  faciem  eum  videamus,  eo  sicuti  est  veraciter  et 
realiter  frui  mereamur  in  ccElis." 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  25 

Eucharistic  rapture  is  met  with  very  frequently  in  records 
of  mystic  experience  at  this  period.  The  Blessed  John  of 
Ruysbroeck,  swooning  at  mass,  explained,  "Even  today 
Jesus  Christ  appeared  to  me,  filling  my  soul  with  delicious- 
ness  all  divine;  He  said  to  my  heart  'Thou  art  Mine  and 
I  am  thine.'"  ^  Catherine  of  Siena  claimed  knowledge  of 
the  Trinity  in  eucharistic  transport,^  and  the  Blessed  Angela 
of  Foligno,  speaking  of  her  mystic  states,  said,  "One  of  the 
works  which  God  Himself  wrought  in  my  soul  is  a  power 
of  comprehending,  with  great  capacity  and  delight,  how  it 
is  that  God  comes  into  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  with  that 
great  and  noble  union."  ^  Hildebert  of  Lavardin  preached 
that  the  mystery  of  the  conversion  of  the  bread  and  wine, 
and  of  the  grace  conferred  by  it,  could  be  contemplated  by 
intuition,  could  be  heard  without  sound  of  voice.  * 

While  the  inexplicable  and  unspeakable  vision  of  God 
belongs  to  the  higher  type  of  mystic  contemplatives,  those 
on  a  lower  plane  always  require  a  sign,  and  such  signs  are 
common  in  the  religious  experience  of  some  mystics.^  The 
crucified  Christ  of  St.  Gregory  ^  is  one  of  these,  as  is  also 
the  vision  of  a  child  or  a  lamb  on  the  altar.  Veronica  of 
Binasco  saw  a  marvellous  light  hovering  over  the  chalice, 
Catherine  of  Siena  saw  Christ  at  different  ages  on  the 
altar,  Marie  of  Oignys  saw  at  times  a  lamb,  at  others  a 
dove,  and  visions  like  that  of  St.  Gregory  were  vouchsafed 
to  many  people  at  Douay.'' 

^  Dom  Vincent  Scully,  C.  R.  L.,  A  Medieval  Mystic,  pp.  40,  41. 

2  Dialogue,  Ch.  CXI.  tr.  Thorold. 

^  Cf.  Algar  Thorold,  Catholic  Mysticism,  p.  159. 

*  "Solus  hsec  intuitu  quodam  contemplatur:  audit  sine  etrepitu 
vocis:  de  longe  odorans,  leniter  tangens,  avide  gustans."  Sermo, 
Migne,  CLXXI:  604. 

6  Infra,  p.  82. 

6  Infra,  p.  78. 

'  Cf.  Gorres,  Die  Christliche  Mystik,  II:  107.  Also  Csesarius  of 
Heisterbach,  Dialogus  Miraculorum,  Bk.  IX. 


26  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN    HISTORY 

Thus  the  mystics  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies found  the  foretaste  of  the  vision  of  God,  the  union 
with  Him,  within  the  bounds  of  holy  church,  consummated 
in  the  eucharist,  in  which  banquet  they  knew  both  the  joys 
of  redemption  and  those  of  the  heavenly  country.^ 


IV 

There  remains  the  question  as  to  how  this  matter  of  the 
development  of  a  religious  dogma  with  its  bearing  on  worship 
and  conduct  concerns  the  student  of  literature.  Why  go 
into  a  mass  of  controversy  which  interests  very  few  people 
today,  and  into  devotional  expression  the  undying  part  of 
which  is  incorporated  into  the  general  body  of  religious  lit- 
erature? So  much  of  it  seems  to  the  modern  reader  exotic 
and  exaggerated  in  feelmg.  But,  surely,  any  literature 
worth  studying  must  have  been  closely  related  to  the  life  of 
the  age  which  made  it:  nothing  human  is  alien  to  it.  As 
well  conceive  the  literary  production  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century  uninfluenced  by  the  theories  of  the  rights  of  man  as 
to  consider  the  literature  of  the  later  Middle  Ages  apart  from 
the  sacramental  system  which  received  each  man  in  infancy, 
which  had  a  place  for  all  the  events  of  his  life,  and  without 
which  no  man  in  Christendom  willingly  faced  death.  The 
climax  of  the  system,  the  elevation  of  the  host,  was  the  heart 
of  his  Sunday  and  festival  worship,  and  its  hold  on  the  popu- 
lar mind  is  shown  by  the  prayers  and  hymns  for  the  elevation 
in  various  vernaculars.^ 

1  Cf.  a  sermon  ascribed  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor  {Migne,  CLXXVII: 
956  ff ) .  In  festivitate  Paschali  et  corporis  Christi,  in  which  the  Passover 
supper  is  allegorized  in  detail.  The  eating  of  the  passover  in  haste  is 
thus  considered  with  a  play  on  words:  "Comedamus  festinanter  ut 
mandata  Dei,  mysteria  redemptionis,  gaudia  patrice  coelestis  cum  fes- 
tinatione  cognoscamus.  .  .  .  Festinanter  ergo  comedamus,  id  est  ad 
solemnitatem  patriae  coelestis  anhelemus." 

2  Vide  Mone,  Hymni  Latini  Medii  jEvi,  I:  286,  293, 


THEOLOGY,  AND  DEVOTION  27 

For  the  very  reason  that  eucharistic  doctrine  and  worship 
were  so  pervasive  and  enveloping,  the  literary  records  of  them 
are  seldom  dogmatic  explanations.  It  is  not  to  poets  and 
story-tellers  that  one  looks  for  detailed  theology,  though  one 
may  safely  assume  for  them  a  working  knowledge  of  the 
church's  teaching  and  an  implicit  faith  in  it.  Just  as  in  the 
illuminated  missal  the  recurrent  and  familiar  parts  are  indi- 
cated by  two  or  three  words,  quite  sufficient  for  the  priest  [/^ 
who  knew  it  all  by  heart,  so  a  very  slight  hint,  the  mere 
mention  of  a  custom  associated  with  eucharistic  worship,  a 
phrase  indissolubly  associated  with  the  mass,  a  bit  of  the 
liturgy  which  could  have  but  one  meaning,  an  allusion  to  a 
popular  belief  or  superstition  —  any  one  of  these  would 
suffice  to  show  an  audience  of  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth 
centuries  in  which  direction  edification  was  to  be  sought. 

One  of  the  many  examples  of  this  is  the  passage  in  the 
Perlesvaus  describmg  the  taking  of  the  Grail  Castle. 

"The  virtue  of  Our  Lord,  and  the  dignity  of  the  banner,  and  the 
goodness  of  the  white  mule  and  the  holiness  of  the  good  hermits 
that  made  their  orisons  to  Our  Lord  so  struck  the  knights  that 
they  lost  all  power  over  themselves."^ 

This  sounds  like  hopeless  confusion  and  conveys  no  idea 
at  all,  unless  we  know  that  in  popular  speech,  whatever 
subtleties  the  theologians  might  premise,  the  consecrated 
host  is  literally  and  locally  Christ,  that  it  was  often  carried 
in  processions  of  intercession,  and  that  a  white  mule  was 
the  animal  preferred  for  such  ceremonies.-  Then  our  eyes 
too  may  see  the  picture  which  the  romancer  meant  to  call 
up  to  his  audience,  —  the  soberly  clad  group  of  hermits, 
probably  singing  their  "orisons  to  Our  Lord"  as  they  moved 
slowly  forward,  the  banner  in  the  hands  of  Joseus  the  hermit, 
which  indicated  the  coming  of  a  King,  a  "vexillum  regis," 

1  Tr.  Sebastian  Evans,  High  History  of  the  Holy  Grail,  XVIII:  xxxii. 

2  Cf.  Catalani,  Pont.  Rom.  II:   313. 


28  TRANSUBSTANTIATION    IN   HISTORY 

Perceval,  knight  of  the  Grail,  bearer  it  would  seem  of  the 
host,  which  at  that  date  would  be  contained  in  a  ciborium, 
or  covered  cup,^  centre  of  the  whole  proceeding,  the  mean- 
ing and  power  of  it  so  well  known  that  even  the  foul  knights 
of  the  King  of  the  Castle  Mortal  quailed  before  it.  No 
treatise  on  transubstantiation  could  show  more  clearly  the 
place  and  force  of  the  doctrine  in  medieval  life.  Explicit 
mention  of  the  theology  concerned  is  not  needed:  we  do 
not  ask  that  writers  after  1859  mention  the  Origin  of  Species 
before  we  admit  that  they  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  the 
theory  of  evolution.  The  burden  of  proof  would  rest  on 
those  who  denied  such  influence. 

The  two  following  chapters  are  the  result  of  an  attempt 
to  trace  the  bearing  and  influence  of  this  most  important 
feature  of  the  daily  life  of  the  later  Middle  Ages,  secular  as 
well  as  spiritual,  in  two  literary  monuments.  Both  are 
concerned  with  religion,  but,  without  any  undue  desire 
for  classification,  they  may  be  taken  to  represent  respec- 
tively the  faith  and  devotion  of  the  people  and  of  the  theo- 
logians —  the  Legend  of  the  Holy  Grail  and  the  Divine 
Comedy. 

*  Vide  infra,  p.  59. 


THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN   THE   LEGEND 
OF  THE  GRAIL 


Li  preudons  "  commencha  la  messe.  Et  quant  il  ot  faite  sa  beneichon 
si  prest  corpus  domini  et  fait  eigne  a  bohort  quil  viegne  auant.  Et  il 
si  fait  sagenoille  deuant  lui.  Et  quant  il  i  est  venus  li  preudons  li  dist 
—  bohort  vois  tu  ce  que  ie  tieng.  Sire  fait  il  oi  bien.  Je  voi  que  vous 
tenes  mon  salueor  et  ma  redemption  en  samblance  de  pain.  .  .  .  Mais 
mi  oeU  sont  si  terrien  qml  ne  peuent  veoir  les  espirituels  choses  .  .  . 
lors  commencha  a  plorer  trop  durement."  —  Queste  del  St.  Graal. 


THE   MYSTIC  VISION   IN  THE   LEGEND 
OF   THE   GRAIL 


The  Grail  quest  is  with  us  yet,  as  alluring  and  as  illusory 
as  at  first,  and  the  modern  fellowship  of  the  Grail,  though 
composed  not  of  knights  but  of  scholars,  is  a  large  one. 
Perhaps  the  very  fact  that  the  questers  are  so  numerous 
attracts  new  devotees.  A  problem  which  has  so  long  in- 
terested so  many  must  be  worth  solving,  and  as  one  after 
another  the  outer  knots  of  the  tangled  skein  are  unravelled 
the  chance  of  finding  the  master  clew  improves.  It  is  not 
surprising  that  such  a  possibility  brings  newcomers  to  the 
task. 

It  would  probably  be  admitted  by  all  workers  in  the  field 
that  any  theory  of  the  Grail  story,  its  origin  and  meaning, 
will  have  to  reckon  with  numerous  features  which  not  only 
do  not  fit  in  with  the  theory  but  are  in  real  or  apparent 
contradiction  to  it.  But  it  may  also  be  admitted  that  the 
professional  entertainers,  empty  singers  of  an  idle  day,  who 
gave  to  the  story  the  literary  form  which  we  know,  were 
neither  theologians  nor  literary  historians.  Their  verse  was 
perhaps  at  the  disposal  of  monastic  patrons  and  so  adapted 
to  a  special  propaganda,  but  their  minds  were  stocked  with 
the  common  properties  of  story-telling,  and  their  task  was 
to  incorporate  a  certain  amount  of  edification  with  a  narra- 
tive sufficiently  varied  to  command  attention  from  an  au- 
dience which  asked  only  the  beguiling  of  long  hours.  It  is 
not  hard  to  understand  that  any  familiar  phrase  would 
bring  up  a  host  of  images,  the  ''sources"  of  which  are  prob- 
ably much  better  known  to  the  modern  scholar  than  to  the 


32  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

medieval  poet.  Knights-errant  might  not  arrive  at  their 
goal  without  toil  and  test;  so  into  the  story  of  their  adven- 
tures the  narrator  put  any  telling  point,  any  emotional 
interest,  any  decorative  touch  which  the  stored  memory 
happened  to  bring  up.^  In  short,  details  of  the  Grail  story 
may  have  pedigrees  of  their  own,  respectable,  even  inter- 
esting, which  are  however  merely  hung  on  the  family  tree, 
not  really  organically  part  of  it.  Because,  for  instance,  some 
elements  can  be  shown  to  have  close  afiinities  with  eastern 
legend  the  origin  of  the  whole  matter  need  not  be  sought  in 
crusading  influences.  Or  because  a  substructure  of  fertility 
rites  may  be  discerned  beneath  the  Christian  ritual  we  are 
not  thereby  justified  in  inferring  that  the  element  of  primi- 
tive worship  is  conscious  or  vital. 

Though  this  study  is  chiefly  concerned  with  the  influence 
of  Christian  doctrine  and  ritual  on  the  Grail  legend,  it  is  no 
brief  for  a  Christian  origin  of  the  quest  story.  It  would  be 
a  difficult  matter  to  shake  the  strong  case  made  out  by  the 
supporters  of  a  Celtic  origin  of  the  story  of  a  quest  and  a 
fated  question,  associated  with  a  magic  vessel  producing 
food  and  a  lance  dripping  blood.  But  this  story  was  un- 
doubtedly combined  with  another  of  an  entirely  different 
origin,  —  that  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  his  care  for  Christ's 
body,  his  guardianship  of  the  holy  vessel  containing  Christ's 
blood,  and  his  mission  to  Britain.  The  motive  for  the  com- 
bination of  two  such  elements,  as  far  from  each  other  in 
character  as  in  origin,  has  never  been  adequately  explained. 
It  is  this  problem  of  the  fusion  of  two  stories  that  will  be 

^  This  ia  naively  admitted  in  Perlesvaus  (XX:  xii),  where  we  are 
told  that  the  very  character  of  the  country  changed  from  time  to 
time  so  that  knights  might  not  weary  of  their  quest.  "Car,  quant  il 
avoient  entr6  en  une  forest  ou  en  une  ille  oH  il  avoient  trouv4  aucune 
aventure,  se  il  i  venoient  autre  foiz,  se  trouvoient  il  recez  et  chastiax  et 
aventure,  d'autre  maniere,  que  la  poigne  et  U  travaua  ne  lor  ennuiast." 
One  suspects  that  variety  was  as  important  to  the  audience  as  to  the 
knights. 


^ 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  331 

discussed  in  the  present  study,  and  the  thesi^o  be  main- 
tained is  that  Robert  de  Borron,  or  a  writer  in  Latin  prose 
whose  work  was  adapted  to  romantic  purposes  by  de  Borron, 
desiring  to  set  forth  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  and 
to  estabhsh  certain  local  claims,  combined  the  Celtic  story  , 
of  the  quest  with  that  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  derived  from 
Christian  legend.  It  required  but  a  slight  addition  to  the 
latter  to  identify  the  vessel  in  which  Joseph  received  the 
sacred  blood  with  the  one  used  by  Christ  at  the  Last  Supper, 
and  such  an  addition  may  well  have  been  suggested  by  the 
food-producing  power  of  the  magic  talisman.^  The  change 
from  a  magic  to  a  holy  vessel  would  thus  be  pivotal. 

An  attempt  to  survey  the  whole  Grail  literature,  even  in 
the  most  summary  fashion,  would  leave  both  author  and 
reader  with  as  little  time  as  inclination  for  further  pursuit 
of  the  subject.  But  as  the  texts  are  voluminous,  and  have, 
moreover,  received  various  names  at  the  hands  of  successive 
editors,  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  clear  argument  that  the 
field  involved  be  defined  and  that,  for  the  purpose  of  this 
essay,  one  title  for  each  version  be  fixed.  A  descriptive  list 
of  the  various  versions  of  the  Grail  legend  with  the  name 
(in  italics)  under  which  they  will  hereafter  be  mentioned 
seems  unavoidable. 


II 

Nutt's  twofold  division  of  the  Grail  romances  is  gen- 
erally accepted. 

"In  the  first,  the  chief  stress  is  laid  upon  the  adventures  con- 
nected with  the  quest  for  certain  talismans,  of  which  the  Grail  is 

^  This  trait  which  Miss  Weston  considers  a  hopelessly  pagan  feature 
persisting  into  the  highly  Christianized  forms  of  the  story  (Quest  of 
the  H.  G.,  p.  64)  seems  to  me  the  very  feature  to  attract  those  seeking 
a  romantic  story  as  a  vehicle  for  eucharistic  teaching.  Vide  infra. 
p.  121. 


34  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

only  one,  ancAipon  the  personality  of  the  hero  who  achieves  the 
quest;  in  the  second,  upon  the  nature  and  history  of  these  tahs- 
mans.  The  first  may  be  styled  the  Quest,  the  second  the  Early 
History  versions;  but  these  designations  must  not  be  taken  as 
implying  that  either  class  is  solely  concerned  with  one  aspect  of 
the  legend."  ^ 

QUEST  VERSIONS 

Conte  del  Graal.     A  vast  poetic  compilation  in  Old  French. 
It  was  begun  by  Crestien  de  Troies  and 
continued  by  other  hands.    The  parts  are 
usually  designated  by  the  names  of  their 
authors.      Crestien's  work  c.  1180. 
Crestien  de  Troies     (Crestien) 
Wauchier  de  Denain     (Wauchier) 
Pseudo-Wauchier     (Ps-Wauch) 
Interpolation  Ps-Wauchier     {Inter.  Ps-Wauch) 
Manessier     (Manessier) 
Gerbert     (Gerhert) 
Peredur,  son  of  Evrawc  (Peredur) 

A  Welsh  romance  preserved  in  a  MS.  of  the  thirteenth  . 
century.     It  was  translated  by  Lady  Charlotte  Guest 
and  included  in  her  volume  of  the  Mahinogion.     Nutt 
estimates  Peredur  as  in  the  main  the  oldest  form  of  the 
Perceval  story,  but  thinks  that  the  form  in  which  we*^ 
have  it  is  comparatively  late  (say  1230-1250),  and  that 
it  has  been  influenced  by  the  writings  of  Crestien  .^ 
Syr  Percjrvelle     (Syr  Percyvelle) 

An  English  metrical  romance  preserved  in  a  MS.  of 
the  fifteenth  century.  No  mention  is  made  in  it  of  the 
Grail  nor  of  any  other  taUsman.  Gaston  Paris  believed 
that  this  poem  represents  the  most  authentic  form  of 
the  original  Celtic  tale.     Of  its  present  form  he  said, 

1  Legends  of  the  H.  G.,  p.  5. 

*  Celtic  Myth  and  Saga,  Folk  Lore,  Sept.  1892. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  35 

"Le  Syr  Percyvelle  s'appuie  certainement  sur  un  poeme 
anglo-normand  perdu,  et  nous  offre  un  specimen  des 
romans   biographiques   qui   forment   la   plus   ancienne 
couche  des  romans  frangais  du  cycle  breton."  ^ 
Parzival     (Parzival) 

Written  by  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  in  Middle  High 
German  verse,  (early  thirteenth  century).  WoKram 
claims  as  source  a  Provengal  poet,  Kiot. 

Of  these  four  Quest  versions  Nutt  says: 

"One  French  version  (Crestien)  speaks  of  the  sword,  a  bleeding 
lance  and  a  Grail  (a  vessel);  another  (if  Wolfram's  poem  be  re- 
garded as  representing  a  lost  French  original),  of  sword  and  lance ,^ 
and  Grail  (a  stone) ;  the  Welsh  tale  mentions  a  bleeding  lance  and 
a  head  in  a  salver;  the  English  romance  is  silent  concerning  any 
tahsman."  ^ 

Diu  Crone     (Diu  Crone) 

In    Middle    High    German   verse,    and   written    by 
Heinrich  von  dem  Tiirlin.    It  is   largely  devoted   to 
praise  of  Gawain,  and  includes  fragments  of  very  early 
traditions  concerning  him.    In  it  the  Grail  is  in  one    / 
place  a  stone,  in  another  a  vessel  containing  the  host. 


EARLY    HISTORY    VERSIONS 

Joseph  d'Arimathie     (Metr.  Jos.) 

(Called  also  Metrical  Joseph 

and  Petit  St.  Graal). 
Merlin     (Merlin) 

These  two  French  metrical  romances  are  generally 

ascribed  to  Robert  de  Borron.     His  work   has  been 

dated  from  1170-1212:  taking  political  and  religious 

1  Sodete  historique  et  cercle  Saint  Simon,  Bulletin  2:  99,  1883.    Cit. 
Miss  Weston,  Sir  Perceval,  I:  xviii. 
"^  Legends  of  the  H.  G.,  p.  18. 


36  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

conditions  into  consideration,  I  should  be  inclined  to 
place  it  in  the  last  decade  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Joseph    (Prose  Jos.) 

Merlin    (Prose  Merlin) 

Prose  versions  of  de  Borron's  poems  with  interpola- 
tions which  Nutt  believes  were  "designed  to  bring  the 
text  into  conformity  with  later  developments  of  the 
legend."  ' 

Perceval     (Prose  Perceval) 

This  version  appears  in  two  forms,  known  as  Didot 
Perceval  and  Modena  Perceval.  The  first  copy  known 
is  in  a  MS.,  which  belonged  to  A.  F.  Didot,  where  it  fol- 
lows Prose  Jos.  and  Prose  Merlin.  Another  MS.  in  the 
Biblioteca  Estense,  Modena,  is  generally  considered  a  su- 
perior text.  Opinions  differ  as  to  whether  this  is  a  prose 
version  of  a  lost  poem  by  de  Borron,  intended  to  com- 
plete the  trilogy,  or  whether  it  is  merely  an  addition  at 
the  hand  of  one  of  the  prose  redactors  of  de  Borron, 
carrying  out  a  supposed  intention  of  his.  In  any  case  it 
seems  a  logical  and  much  needed  conclusion  to  de  Bor- 
ron's work.  For  if  the  Joseph  gives  the  early  history  of 
the  Grail,  the  Merlin  brings  it  into  connection  with 
Arthur's  court.  But  this  is  only  the  prologue  to  the  real 
romance.  It  is  without  meaning  except  as  it  provides 
the  "great  fool"  of  the  Celtic  story  with  a  Christian 
object  for  his  quest  and  makes  the  quest  itself  an  ad- 
venture of  the  Round  Table. 

Grand  St.  Graal     (Gr.  St.  Graal) 

A  very  long  French  prose  romance,  so  rambling  and 
discursive  that  it  never  arrives  at  the  accomplishment 
of  the  quest.    It  probably  belongs  late  in  the  cycle. 

Queste  del  St.  Graal     (Queste) 

This  French  prose  romance  is  the  most  theological  and 
ascetic  of  the  cycle.     "It  was  embodied  almost  entire, 
1  Op.  cit.,  p.  25. 


/ 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  37 

by  Malory  in  the   Morte  Darthur."    (Nutt.)  ^     As   a 
matter  of  fact,  the  omissions  indicated  by  "ahnost" 
cover  most  of  the  spiritual  and  edifying  matter  of  the 
Queste. 
Perlesvaus  or  Pellesvaus     (Perlesvaus) 
(Called  also  Perceval  le  Gallois) 

The  time  of  greatest  interest  in  the  Grail,  which  is  also 
the  time  during  which  the  chief  versions  of  the  romance 
developed,  may  be  set  roughly  as  the  last  quarter  of  ^ 
the  twelfth  century  and  the  first  of  the  thirteenth. 

This  French  prose  romance  has  been  translated  by  Hf-^f 
Evans  under  the  title  of  the  High  History  of  the  Holy 
Grail.     Evans,  as  also  Potvin,  its  first  editor,  considers 
it  the  original  version  of  the  Grail  romance,  but  many 
features,  noticeably  the  change  in  the  character  of  Per- 
ceval from  lover  and  husband  to  cehbate,  seem  to  give 
the  romance  a  very  late  place  in  the  cycle.    Its  relation 
to  the  Queste  is  debatable.     Is  the  celibacy  of  Per- 
ceval an  imitation  of  that  of  Galahad?    Or  is  the  Per- 
lesvaus "the  transitional  bridge  between  the  knightly 
hero  of  Crestien-Guiot  and  the  ascetic  hero  of  the  later 
legend,"  as  Nutt  believed?  ^ 
It  is  extremely  important  to  note  the  marked  difference 
between  the  two  groups  into  which  the  texts  fall  —  that 
which  deals  primarily  with  the  Quest  of  the  Grail  and  that 
which  is  most  concerned  with  its  Early  History.     Nutt  felt 
that  the  diversity  in  tone  and  sentiment  between  the  two 
is  so  marked  *'as  to  make  the  reader  of  the  Early  History 
versions  feel  as  though  transported  into  another  world." 

"The   chivalric   is   here   subordinated   to   the   Christian/ 
ascetic  element.    True,  the  hero's  prowess  is  insisted  upon 
in  set  conventional  terms,  but  the  centre  of  interest  is  shifted 
from  his  personality  and  from  the  feats  and  ventures  by 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  30. 
*  Op.  cit.,  p.  75. 


38  THE  MYSTIC  VISION   IN 

which  it  is  manifested  to  the  symboHc  machinery  of  the 
precious  vessel  and  its  accompaniments.   .   .   . 

"  These  differences  in  tone  and  feeling,  not  to  be  appre- 
ciated save  by  those  who  read  the  original  text,  would  alone 
suflEice  to  negative  the  hypothesis  that  the  two  sets  of  ro- 
mances are  the  dissevered  halves  of  a  homogeneous  whole, 
or  variant  versions  of  a  common  original  theme.  The  dis- 
tinction between  them  is  far  more  deeply  seated."^ 


Ill 

Critical  opinion  as  to  the  origin  of  the  story  falls  inevit- 
ably into  two  classes  as  sharply  divided  one  from  the  other 
as  the  Quest  from  the  Early  History  versions.  In  one  are 
those  who  hold  that  the  Celtic  vessel  of  increase  and  the 
adventures  connected  with  it  were  gradually  and  almost 
accidentally  affected  by  Christian  teaching  introduced  in 
successive  redactions  of  the  story  by  Christian  narrators. 
In  the  other  class  are  the  exponents  of  a  purely  Christian 
origin  of  the  vessel.  They  hold  that  it  was  from  the  begin- 
ning the  vessel  of  the  holy  blood,  and  that  its  story,  in  some 
quite  unexplained  way,  was  contaminated  by  elements 
which  are  traceable  to  Celtic  story-telling.  Nutt's  studies 
are  the  most  important  contributions  to  the  first  theory, 
while  Birch-Hirschfeld  is  the  most  conspicuous  defender  J 
of  that  of  the  Christian  origin. 

Quite  recently  a  third  theory  has  made  its  appearance, 
—  the  so-called  "ritual  theory."  ^  This  view  "sees  in  the 
Grail  tradition  as  preserved  to  us  the  confused  and  frag- 
mentary record  of  a  special  form  of  nature-worship,  which, 

^  Nutt,  op.  dt.,  pp.  36,  37. 

2  It  is  confusing  to  narrow  the  word  "ritual"  to  any  special  form 
of  worship,  primitive  or  otherwise.  Golther's  contention  that  the 
Grail  worship  is  that  of  the  Byzantine  mass  is  also  a  "ritual"  theory. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  39 

having  been  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  a  mystery,  survived 
in  the  form  of  a  tradition."  This  theory  is  earnestly  up- 
held by  Miss  J.  L.  Weston,  in  whose  words  the  statement 
above  is  given,^  and  has  also  a  supporter  in  Dr.  Nitze. 
Miss  Weston,  however,  thinks  the  fertility  rites  connected 
with  the  worship  of  Adonis  answer  most  closely  to  the  details 
of  the  Grail  story,  while  Dr.  Nitze  believes  those  associated 
with  the  Eleusinian  Mysteries  to  be  most  closely  affiliated  .^ 

Details  of  the  Grail  story  have  been  analyzed  intermin- 
ably. Innumerable  studies  of  the  dates  of  the  various 
texts  and  their  sequence  exist.  There  are  vehement  con- 
troversies as  to  whether  Bleheris  and  Kiot,  mentioned  in 
certain  texts  as  sources,  are  to  be  regarded  as  real  persons 
or  literary  fictions.  Some  critics  are  inclined  to  believe  that 
Walter  Map  really  had  something  to  do  with  the  later 
forms  of  the  story,  but  Sommer  in  his  edition  of  the  Grand 
St.  Graal  and  the  Queste  has  stated  his  opinion  that  the  as- 
criptions to  Map  are  without  foundation  in  fact.  Many 
pages  have  been  devoted  to  establishing  the  identity  of 
Robert  de  Borron,  without  convincing  results. 

To  such  Celtic  scholars  as  Alfred  Nutt  and  A.  C.  L. 
Brown  we  owe  careful  study  of  features  which  can  be  par- 
alleled in  Celtic  story.  The  elaborate  work  of  Hagen  is  one 
of  the  latest  efforts  to  determine  the  significance  and  value 
of  the  traces  of  the  Earthly  Paradise  legend  and  other 
eastern  .material,  and  its  possible  connection  with  the  Cru- 
sades. There  are  many  valuable  studies  of  the  relation  of 
the  Grail  ritual  to  the  ritual  of  the  Christian  church,  espe- 
cially to  that  of  the  eastern  branch.  Among  them  may  be 
mentioned  those  of  Heinzel,  Newell,  Golther,  and  Miss 
Peebles.  Wolfram's  Parzival,  with  its  marked  differences 
from  any  other  version,  has  called  forth  much  scholarly 

1  Quest  of  the  H.  G.,  p.  98. 

^  For  discussion  of  this  theory  and  of  the  relation  of  fertility  rites 
to  eucharistic  worship,  vide.  App.,  p.  121. 


40  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

work.  The  discussions  of  San  Marte,  Sterzenbach,  and 
Hertz  should  be  particularly  noticed. 

In  all  this  outpouring  of  critical  scholarship,  the  fusion 
of  two  distinct  stories  —  that  of  the  quest  of  a  magic, 
food-producing  vessel,  and  that  of  the  vessel  of  Christ's 
blood,  treasured  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  —  is  almost  in- 
variably regarded  as  the  most  important  and  significant 
point  in  the  finished  narrative,  but  there  have  been  few 
attempts  to  find  a  credible  motive  for  the  combination. 
Paulin  Paris  considered  that  it  resulted,  directly  or  indirectly, 
from  the  desire  of  the  Glastonbury  monks  to  stand  well 
with  Henry  II,  but  he  viewed  the  Grail  itself  as  nothing 
more  than  a  specially  holy  relic  and  so  a  desirable  possession.^ 

Potvin,  who  put  the  beghinings  of  the  whole  cycle  much 
earlier  than  would  any  critic  of  the  present  day,  saw  in  the 
Perlesvaus  an  "epic  of  theocracy,"  an  Iliad  of  the  genius 
of  Hildebrand,  whose  claim  to  universal  rule  was  thus 
upheld  by  the  institutions  of  chivalry.  He  believed  that 
Perceval  typified  civil  war  on  behalf  of  theocratic  govern- 
ment .^  The  supporters  of  the  theory  of  an  origin  in  fertil- 
ity rites  believe  that  a  magic  vessel  was  connected  with 
these  rites  in  pre-Christian  Britain,  and  that  a  confused 
memory  of  this  worship  was  carried  over  into  the  rites  of 
the  Christian  church. 


IV 

To  offer  a  theory  with  the  avowed  object  of  twisting  many 
of  these  threads  into  a  dependable  clew  to  the  maze  is  to 
display  audacity  far  removed  indeed  from  angeUc  hesita- 
tion. Such  a  theory  must  make  use  of  all  these  lines  of 
research.  It  may  freely  admit  the  Celtic  origin  and  yet 
have  a  place  for  reminiscences  of  fertility  rites  and  for  the 

1  Romania,  I:  482. 

2  Introdiiction  to  the  Conte  del  Graal. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  41 

eastern  elements.  It  must  account  for  the  varying  form  of 
the  Grail,  and  have  an  answer  for  the  question  of  the  fusion 
of  the  two  stories.  Yet  one  ever-present  idea,  the  desire  to 
express  one  intense  conviction,  would  serve  to  unite  many 
loose  ends,  and  like  a  scarlet  thread  might  be  followed 
through  all  the  intricacies  of  the  coil.  And  such  a  scarlet 
thread  may  well  be  the  glorification  of  transubstantiation, 
for  by  the  last  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century  that  doctrine, 
after  the  long  controversy  just  outlined,^  had  become  a 
favorite  subject  for  sermon  and  exposition,  found  expression 
in  art,  in  ritual  and  in  sacred  poetry,  and  lent  strength  to 
the  power  of  the  keys.^  It  was  emphasized  in  England  by 
Lanfranc  and  his  followers,  and  the  Benedictines  were  par- 
ticularly active  in  promulgating  it.  And  during  these  twenty- 
five  years  we  find  the  story  of  a  miraculous  vessel  called  the 
Grail  becoming  popular  with  the  romance  writers.  Com- 
bined with  the  Christian  legend  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea, 
which  for  some  unknown  reason  was  familiar  in  England  / 
at  an  early  date,  the  story  acquired  in  successive  retellings 
an  increasingly  doctrinal  and  didactic  character. 

It  may  fairly  be  presumed  that  this  steady  growth  of 
emphasis  on  Christian  teaching  reflects  contemporary 
religious  emphasis;  and  such  a  presumption  leads  to  the 
suggestion  that  the  Celtic  story,  with  its  symbols,  was  used 
as  a  foundation  for  the  later  Grail  romances  because  it  was, 
particularly  well  suited  to  the  double  purpose  for  which  it 
was  intended  —  the  glorification  of  the  dogma  of  transub-  \ 
stantiation,  of  very  special  contemporary  importance,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  claim  of  England  in  general  and 

1  Vide  ut  sup.,  Ch.  I. 

2  The  withdrawal  of  the  eucharist  was  one  of  the  chief  terrors  of  an 
interdict.    Cf.  Dante's  accusation  of  the  popes: 

They  take  away,  now  here,  now  there,  the  bread 
The  pitying  father  would  lock  up  from  none. 

Paradiso,  XVIII:  128,  129,  tr.  Johnson. 


42  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

Glastonbury  in  particular  to  early  and  independent  con- 
nection with  the  dogma.  On  this  hypothesis  the  Grail,  at 
least  in  de  Borron's  version  of  its  story  and  in  those  modelled 
on  him,  is  the  symbol  of  transubstantiation,  the  perpetual 
miracle  of  the  church  by  which  man  attains  to  the  closest 
approximation  possible  to  one  still  on  earth  to  that  final 
union  with  God  which  is  the  ultimate  blessedness  of  man. 
In  accordance  with  this  theory  the  quest  of  the  Grail  is  the 
aspiration  for  mystic  intuition  of  the  miracle,  a  direct 
knowledge  which,  as  we  have  seen,^  is  not  faith,  though 
faith  is  an  indispensable  condition  of  its  attainment.  A 
chosen  few  have  achieved  this  sacramental  mystic  vision; 
they  "  know  how  God  comes  into  the  sacrament."  -  Others, 
even  among  the  faithful,  must  be  content  with  faith,  and 
believe  in  the  sacramental  presence  of  Christ. 

As  a  symbol  of  transubstantiation  the  Grail  need  not  be 
one  definite  object:  its  form  may  vary.    For  the  romancer's  9 
purpose  any  ritual  accessory  to  the  consecration  of  the  ' 
elements,  —  chalice,   paten,   ciborium,   tabernacle,   or  altar 
stone,  —  may  represent  the  miracle  of  transubstantiation. 
Each  story  teller  may  select  that  which  appeals  most  to  his 
imagination,  or  which  has  special  interest  for  him  or  for  his 
audience.    For  the  actual  material  object  is  but  a  symbol,  a  \ 
figure  of  the  thing  signified.    The  true  Grail  is  indeed  "chose 
esperitel,"  "of  wood  was  it  not,  nor  of  any  kind  of  metal 
nor  of  stone  was  it  wrought,  neither  of  horn  nor  of  bone." ' 
This  interpretation,  it  will  be  seen,  offers  an  explanation 
of  the  long  discussed  question  as  to  why  Wolfram  described    ^. 
the  Grail  as  a  stone,  while  in  other  versions  it  appears  as  ^ 
a  dish  or  chalice. 

This  theory  as  to  the  significance  of  the  Grail  requires 
support  from  without  as  well  as  from  within.     External 

1  Ut  sup.  p.  19. 

2  Angela  of  Foligno,  vide  Thorold,  Catholic  Mysticism,  pp.  158,  159. 
^  Prose  Lancelot. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  43 

evidence  is  to  be  sought  in  the  emphasis  on  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation  at  the  time  of  the  development  of  the 
Grail  romances,  and  the  ambition  of  the  Glastonbury  monks 
to  identify  themselves  as  heirs  of  primitive  British  tra- 
dition, so  that  they  might  offer  to  Henry  II  in  his  struggle' 
with  the  papacy  such  prestige  as  would  accrue  from  direct 
knowledge  of  important  doctrinal  teaching  and  from  a 
usage  and  ritual  which  claimed  entire  independence  of  thel 
authority  of  Rome.  Study  of  the  texts  themselves  shows  a 
constant  association  of  the  Grail  with  eucharistic  ceremo- 
nial. It  seems  to  be  identified  with  one  and  another  of  the 
accessories  of  the  mass,  and  there  are  striking  resemblances 
between  its  effects  and  those  of  the  eucharist.  For  example, 
the  miracles  which  were  related  as  evidences  of  transub- 
stantiation appear  in  connection  with  the  manifestations 
of  the  Grail.  The  great  charge  connected  with  the  possession 
of  the  Grail  is  called  its  ''secret,"  and  the  term  suggested 
to  contemporaries  the  words  of  consecration  of  the  mass, 
words  which  effect  transubstantiation,  at  that  period  called 
secreta.  The  later  Grail  romancers  introduce  the  require- 
ment of  celibate  chastity  on  the  part  of  the  Grail  hero: 
this  is  done  in  Perlesvaus  by  transforming  Perceval;  in  the 
Queste  by  the  introduction  of  Galahad.  The  glorification 
of  celibacy  finds  a  parallel  in  the  purity  required  of  those 
who  are  connected  with  the  ministry  of  the  altar  and  the 
offering  of  the  mass,  a  purity  on  which  increasing  stress 
was  laid  at  the  time  those  romances  developed. 


The  conspicuous  importance  of  the  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation at  the  time  of  the  flowering  of  the  Grail  romances 
has  been  discussed  in  the  previous  chapter.  When  we  take 
up  the  question  of  the  connection  of  Glastonbury  with  the 
Early  History  versions,  we  are  at  once  confronted  with  the 


44  THE   MYSTIC    VISION   IN 

problem  of  Robert  de  Borron  and  the  trilogy  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  Merlin,  and  Perceval  generally  attributed  to 
him.  Who  was  he?  Hucher  was  sure  he  was  "homme 
d'^p^e,"  in  spite  of  his  marked  talent  for  theological  expo- 
sition. Miss  Weston  claims  him  as  an  "initiate."  Was  he 
perhaps  a  jongleur  turned  monk,  like  Helinandus,  or  a 
jongleur  officially  attached  to  the  monastery  of  Glaston-\/ 
bury,  as  B^dier  would  probably  prefer  to  think  him?  Or 
was  he  a  knightly  singer,  familiar  with  the  ambitious  claims 
of  Glastonbury  as  well  as  with  the  weak  points  of  the  court? 
Whoever  he  was,  it  is  hardly  disputed  that  he  is  responsible 
for  combining  the  Celtic  quest  story  with  the  legend  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  and  for  adding  to  the  latter  the  iden- 
tification of  the  vessel  in  which  Joseph  caught  the  blood  of 
Christ  with  the  dish  of  the  Last  Supper. 

The  Metrical  Joseph  begins  with  a  theological  exposition 
of  the  fall  of  man,  death  as  the  penalty  of  his  sin,  and  the 
Incarnation  as  the  remedy  for  it.  The  secret  devotion  of  /  i^'^ 
Joseph,  who  is  represented  as  an  officer  of  Pilate,  is  related. 
The  narrative  then  proceeds  to  an  account  of  the  Last 
Supper.  After  it  Judas  leads  the  Jews  into  the  house  of 
Simon,  where  it  had  taken  place,  and  there  betrays  his 
Master.  In  the  confusion  the  disciples  leave  behind  them 
the  fair  vessel  with  which  Christ  had  instituted  His  sacra- 
ment. A  Jew,  however,  picks  it  up  and  takes  it  to  Pilate. 
When  Joseph  hears  of  the  death  of  Christ  he  demands  the 
body  from  Pilate.  Pilate  grants  the  boon  and  gives  Joseph 
the  vessel  of  the  sacrament  in  which  the  blood  from  Christ's 
wounds  is  received.  The  story  takes  up  the  persecution  of 
Joseph  for  alleged  resuscitation  of  Christ,  His  imprisonment, 
the  vision  in  prison  of  Christ  bearing  the  holy  vessel,  from 
which  a  brightness  streams.  This  He  entrusts  to  Joseph 
after  another  long  review  of  the  fall  of  man  and  its  remedy 
in  the  Incarnation.  He  also  recalls  the  Last  Supper,  when 
the  bread  and  wine  were  declared  His  body  and  blood,  and 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  45 

promises  Joseph  that  for  his  tender  care  of  the  sacred  body 
the  sacrament  will  never  be  celebrated  without  remembrance 
of  him.  It  is  explained  that  at  these  celebrations  the  altar  ^ 
will  represent  the  sepulchre;  the  vessel  in  which  His  body 
will  be  consecrated  in  the  form  of  the  host  is  to  be  called  a 
chalice,  and  will  represent  that  in  which  the  sacred  blood 
was  received;  the  paten  over  the  chalice  is  the  symbol  of 
the  stone  before  the  sepulchre;  the  cloth  over  both  will 
represent  the  winding-sheet  which  Joseph  used.  Christ 
then  teaches  Joseph  the  great,  "  secret,"  which  is  called  by^^ 
the  name  of  the  Grail. 

The  next  appearance  of  the  Grail  is  in  far  distant  lands, 
where  it  exhibits  the  power  of  separating  the  good  from  the 
bad,  and  we  are  told  that  the  Grail  is  so  called  because  it  is 
agreeable  to  all  who  see  it.  There  is  much  confusion  as  to 
the  conversion  of  England  and  the  guardianship  of  the  Grail. 
De  Borron's  narrative  at  this  point  is  ambiguous  and  obscure. 
At  first  long  passages  are  devoted  to  Alain,  descendant 
of  Joseph's  sister,  and  he  is  designated  as  the  Grail- 
keeper.  Yet  he  disappears  from  the  story  without  explana- 
tion, and  the  chief  role  is  assigned  to  Brons,  husband  of 
Joseph's  sister.  He  is  known  as  the  Rich  Fisher,  is  given 
charge  of  the  Grail,  and  learns  the  holy  words  which  the 
Lord  spoke  to  Joseph  in  prison.  In  the  metrical  version 
no  mention  of  Joseph  as  apostle  to  Britain  occurs,  though  he 

^  W.  W.  Newell,  The  Legend  of  the  Holy  Grail,  p.  25,  calls  attention 
to  a  passage  in  the  Gemma  Animce  of  Honorius  of  Autun,  first  half  of 
the  twelfth  century.  "When  are  said  the  words  per  omnia  scecula 
sceculorum  the  deacon  comes,  raises  the  cup  before  him  (the  priest), 
puts  on  the  cover,  replaces  it  on  the  altar,  and  covers  it  with  the  cor- 
poral, representing  Joseph  of  Arimathea,  who  deposited  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ,  covered  his  face  with  the  sweat-cloth,  laid  it  in  the  tomb, 
sealed  with  the  stone.  Here  the  oblate  and  chalice  are  covered  with 
the  corporal,  which  signifies  the  pure  winding-sheet  in  which  Joseph 
wrapped  the  body  of  Christ.  The  chalice  designates  the  sepulchre* 
the  plate,  the  stone  which  closed  the  sepulchre." 


46  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

seems  to  send  missionaries  in  that  direction.  But  in  the 
prose  (Cang6  MS.)  Joseph  is  said  to  have  preached  in  the 
land  of  Great  Britain.^  If  the  Prose  Perceval  is  by  de  Bor- 
ron  2  we  find  that  in  the  Metr.  Jos.  de  Borron  has  prepared 
the  way  for  the  close  association  of  the  Christian  vessel 
with  Merlin  and  the  romantic  adventure  of  the  quest.  The 
Merlin  is  fragmentary,  but  it  serves  to  bring  in  the  court  of 
Arthur  and  the  Round  Table.  In  the  Didot-Perceval  Merlin, 
almost  at  the  outset,  repeats  the  story  of  Joseph  and  his 
guardianship  of  the  Grail.  The  character  of  the  Grail  is 
assumed  as  already  well  known,  and  the  only  feature  spe- 
cially mentioned  is  its  power  of  separating  the  good  from  the 
bad.  Merlin  says  "Our  Lord  made  the  first  table,  Joseph 
the  second,  and  I,  at  the  command  of  Uther  Pendragon,  the 

^  Joseph's  mission  to  England  is  conspicuous  in  a  Welsh  version 
of  the  Queste.  Perceval's  aunt  relates  how  when  Joseph  of  Arimathea 
came  to  Great  Britain,  and  his  son  Joseph  with  him,  there  came  with 
them  about  four  thousand  people,  all  of  whom  were  fed  by  ten  loaves, 
placed  on  the  table  at  the  head  of  which  was  the  Grail.  In  the  Gr. 
St.  Graal  Joseph  brings  his  company  to  "angleterre"  by  means  of  his 
miraculous  shirt,  and  the  Grail  feeds  the  travellers. 

^  Nutt  thought  the  Didot-Perceval  an  "incongruous  jumble  of 
hints  from  de  Borron's  work  and  a  confused  version  of  the  Conte  del 
Graal,"  intended  to  be  a  sequel  to  de  Borron's  poems.  {Legends  of 
the  Holy  Grail,  p.  34.)  Sommer  is  also  convinced  that  the  author  of  the 
Didot-Perceval  is  not  de  Borron,  but  an  unknown  compiler,  and  that  the 
quest  of  the  GraU  must  have  been  carried  into  the  prose  versions  from 
some  other  source,  i.e.  a  Perceval-Quest,  other  than  the  Perlesvaus, 
but  closely  related  to  it,  to  Crestien,  and  to  the  Queste.  (Introduction 
to  the  Vulgate  Cycle,  p.  xii.)  If  I  understand  Sommer,  he  assumes  that 
some  one  made  a  prose  version  of  de  Borron's  two  poems,  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  and  Merlin,  and  added  an  adaptation  of  this  lost  Perceval- 
Quest,  carrying  into  it  the  Joseph-Grail-conversion  of  Britain  machin- 
ery prepared  by  de  Borron.  But  why  may  not  de  Borron  have  made 
this  concluding  combination  himself  in  a  lost  poem  of  which  the  con- 
tents survive  only  in  the  prose  transcription?  Certainly  the  two  met- 
rical stories  which  we  possess  escaped  the  same  fate  by  the  narrow 
margin  of  one  MS. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  47 

third."  He  also  says  the  Grail  is  now  in  Britain,  under, 
guard  of  the  Fisher-king,  that  he  is  sick,  and  will  never  be 
healed  except  by  the  intervention  of  a  knight  of  the  Round 
Table.  Here  is  certainly  a  most  ingenious  combination. 
The  holiest  object  in  Christendom,  the  symbolic  present- 
ment of  the  chief  glory  of  the  church,  the  sacrament  which 
was  the  focus  of  contemporary  doctrinal  discussion,  is 
brought  to  Britain  and  connected  with  Arthur,  the  national 
figure  in  whom  the  reigning  house  was  greatly  interested. 
It  needs  for  completion  only  the  story  of  Perceval  and  his 
quest  that  the  Grail  may  become  the  end  and  object  of 
knightly  achievement. 

VI 

A  blend  of  Celtic  folktale,  Arthurian  romance  and  the 
story  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  in  the  interest  of  theology  and 
politics  could  originate  nowhere  in  England  so  well  as  in 
Glastonbury,  the  oldest  ecclesiastical  foundation  on  the 
\/ island.  King  Ine  and  St.  Aldhelm  laid  the  foundations  of 
the  Saxon  monastery  on  a  site  which  was  already  hallowed 
ground  to  their  British  predecessors.  "Glastonbury  became 
the  channel  through  which  there  ran  into  the  new  and  vigo- 
rous fields  of  English  monasticism  all  the  treasured  legends 
and  beliefs  of  earlier  Celtic  monasticism."  ^  There,  says 
Freeman : 

"In  the  isle  of  Avalon,  the  isle  of  Glastonbury,  the  great  Abbey 
still  lived  on,  rich  and  favored  by  the  conquerors  as  by  the  con- 
quered, the  one  great  institution  which  bore  up  untouched  through 
the  storm  of  the  English  Conquest,  the  one  great  tie  which  binds 
our  race  to  the  race  which  went  before  us,  and  which  binds  the 
church  of  the  last  thirteen  hundred  years  to  the  earUer  days  of 
Christianity  in  Britain."  ^ 

^  T.  S.  Holmes,  Wells  and  Glastonbury,  Ch.  X. 
2  Cathedral  Church  of  Wells,  pp.  18,  19. 


48  THE   MYSTIC   VISION    IN 

The  monks  may  have  enjoyed  some  favor  from  the  con- 
querors, but  in  spite  of  it  they  had  difficulty  in  maintaining 
their  independence  and  prestige.  In  1077  the  last  Saxon 
abbot  was  deposed  by  the  Conqueror,  and  Thurstan,  a 
Norman  monk  of  Caen,  was  installed  as  abbot.  He  at  once  • 
undertook  to  replace  the  local  use  in  liturgy  and  chant  by 
that  of  Fecamp,  an  ill-judged  attempt  which  provokedv 
riotous  resistance,  as  may  be  imagined.  Glastonbury  later 
found  a  champion  in  Henry  II,  who  was  jealous  of  inter- 
ference in  English  church  affairs  and  grateful  for  any  link 
with  the  past  of  Britian  which  might  be  helpful  in  his  disputes 
with  the  papal  see  on  questions  of  jurisdiction,  —  disputes 
which  are  too  familiar  to  need  more  than  mention.^  In 
1171,  on  his  way  to  Ireland,  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  guest 
of  the  Abbey,  where  Irish  harpers  sang  him  the  story  of 
Arthur.  In  1178  he  took  the  ruling  of  the  monastery  into 
his  own  hands,  and  when  the  church  with  most  of  its  orna- 
1  ments  and  relics  was  burned  in  1184,  he  undertook  the  task 
^of  rebuilding  it. 

The  question  of  the  alleged  connection  of  Joseph  of  Ari- 
mathea  with  Glastonbury  must  now  be  considered.  William 
of  Malmesbury  in  his  Antiquities  of  Glastonbury  ^  recounts, 
with  the  usual  vague  mention  of  a  more  ancient  chronicle, 
that  St.  Philip,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  chose  a  band  of  new 
converts  and  despatched  them,  under  conduct  of  Joseph  of 
Arimathea,  to  the  western  world.  They  landed  in  Britain 
and  converted  part  of  the  inhabitants.  The  king,  Arviragus, 
ceded  them  a  large  tract  of  land  where  they  built  a  church, 
Glastonbury  Abbey.  The  implication  is  that  once  in  Eng- 
land and  at  Glastonbury  Joseph  must  have  left  his  bones 

^  "Religion  grew  more  and  more  identified  with  patriotism  under 
the  eyes  of  a  king  who  whispered,  and  scribbled,  and  looked  at  picture 
books  during  mass."  —  J.  R.  Green,  Short  History  of  the  English  People, 
II:  VIII. 

2  Migne,  CLXXIX:  1683. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  49 

there.  But  from  the  time  of  Charlemagne  the  rehcs  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  been  the  pride  of  the  monks  of 
Moienmoutier  in  the  Vosges,  until  at  an  unguarded  moment 
they  were  reft  from  them  by  "stranger  monks,"  whom 
Paulin  Paris  shrewdly  suspected  to  hail  from  Glastonbury.^ 
Certainly  in  a  charter  inserted  in  the  same  book  of  the 
Antiquities  of  Glastonbury  Henry  II  recognized  the  apostolic 
origin  of  the  Abbey  Church  after  an  examination  of  the 
alleged  title  deeds  which  supported  such  a  claim.  So,  with- 
out the  sUghtest  support  from  Gildas,  said  by  Welsh  tradi- 
tion to  have  ended  his  days  at  Glastonbury,  or  from  Bede, 
and  without  authorization  from  Rome,  the  monks  of  Glas- 
tonbury asserted  that  Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  come  to 
England  about  the  year  63  of  the  Christian  era,  that  he  had 
converted  the  inhabitants,  founded  Glastonbury,  and,  pre- 
sumably, chosen  that  abbey  for  a  burial  place.  Doubters 
could  be  referred  to  the  venerable  relics. 

The  monks,  grateful  for  the  king's  belief  in  their  long 
descent,  requited  his  favor  by  an  important  discovery, 
nothing  less  than  that  the  grave  of  Arthur  was  on  their 
premises.  According  to  the  monk  Alberic  des  Trois  Fontaines 
the  discovery  was  effected  by  an  abbot  who  had  the  entire 
cemetery  of  the  abbey  excavated  in  the  search,  having  been 
incited  thereto  by  words  which  a  monk  had  heard  from  the 
mouth  of  Henry  II  himself.^  This  certainly  sounds  sus- 
piciously like  a  "command  performance."  But  Henry  died 
in  1189  and  Alberic  says  this  happened  in  1193.  If  he  is 
right  the  monks  may  have  thought  to  interest  Richard  I 
in  a  discovery  which  would  have  made  a  strong  appeal 
to  his  father.    They  certainly  needed  the  new  king's  assist- 

^  Cf .  Romania,  1 :  457  ff .  In  this  article  P.  Paris  cites  the  chronicle 
concerning  the  theft  which  left  Moienmoutier  desolate.  Vide.  App., 
p.  125. 

^  The  citation  from  Alberic  is  given  by  San  Marte,  Essay,  p.  17. 
For  the  full  quotation,  vide.  App.  125. 


60  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

ance  in  their  fight  against  encroachment.  Sometime  during 
the  decade  of  this  discovery,  one  Savaric  proposed  to  annex 
Glastonbury  to  Bath,  and  to  be  known  as  bishop  of  Bath 
and  Glastonbury.  This  plan  would  of  course  have  deprived 
Glastonbury  of  its  unique  position.  The  monks  took  their 
grievance  to  Richard,  who  sided  with  them  and  encouraged 
a  fresh  and  successful  appeal  to  the  pope.  They  then 
ousted  Savaric  and  continued  to  enjoy  their  indepen- 
dence. 

At  all  events,  Glastonbury  not  only  appropriated  Joseph, 
bones  and  all,  as  patron  saint,  but  Arthur,  grave  and  all, 
as  benefactor,^  a  combination  which  made  both  for  the 
glory  of  the  abbey  and  for  the  claims  of  the  church  in 
Britain  to  continuity  and  catholicity  independent  of 
Rome. 

It  also  tended  to  encourage  the  memory  and  practice  of 
every  scrap  of  liturgy,  ritual,  or  traditional  custom  which 
belonged  to  the  ancient  church  of  Britain.  Its  ceremonial 
differed  markedly  from  that  of  Rome,  but  the  exact  nature 
of  its  peculiarities  is  unknown,  for  the  chroniclers  content 
themselves  with  the  general  statement  that  British  customs 

^  It  is  interesting  to  note  how  gravely  this  assumption  was  accepted. 
Giraldus  Cambrensis  {Spec.  Ec.  II:  8-10;  De  Principis  Instr.  I:  xx.), 
speaks  of  the  ceremonies  which  marked  the.  removal  of  Arthm-'s  bones 
to  their  new  resting  place  within  the  Abbey  Church.  He  further 
observes  that  this  discovery  puts  an  end  to  the  fabled  disappearance 
of  Arthur  into  fairyland,  a  story  for  which  he  accounts  on  rationalistic 
grounds.  Glastonbury,  he  notes,  was  once  known  as  the  Isle  of  Avalon, 
and  it  was  to  this  island  that  Arthur's  sister  took  him  to  be  healed  of 
his  wounds.  Evidently,  his  wounds  not  healing,  he  died  and  was 
buried  there,  as  the  discovery  of  his  remains  proves.  By  the  next  cen- 
tury the  ceremonies  at  the  removal  of  these  remains  had  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  original  interment,  and  we  hear  of  the  burial  of  the  bold 
king  at  Glastonbury  by  all  the  baronage  of  Britain 

"  With  all  wirchipe  and  welthe  l)at  any  wy  scholde." 

—  Morte  Arthure  (ed  Banks),  4328  f. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  51 

were  hostile  to  those  of  Rome.^  Aside  from  differences  in 
ecclesiastical  usage  there  seem  to  have  been  customs  of 
doubtful  morality.  Attention  has  been  called  by  Miss 
Peebles  to  the  agapetce,  women  who  followed  the  Irish 
missionaries  and  scandalized  the  Galilean  bishops  ;2  and  in 
Scotland  barbarous  usages  connected  with  the  mass  existed 
until  they  were  indignantly  abolished  by  St.  Margaret.' 
That  these  peculiarities,  at  least  in  the  matter  of  ritual, 
show  sympathy  with  the  Eastern  churches  seems  to  be  indi- 
cated by  scanty  traces  in  art,  architecture,  and  liturgy,  as 
well  as  by  the  claims  of  British  bishops  to  consecration  at 
Jerusalem  and  by  frequent  references  to  the  fathers  of  the 
Eastern  church,  though  it  is  very  difficult  to  tell  just  how 
much  of  this  came  through  direct  contact  with  the  East 
and  how  much  through  Galilean  channels.^     At  any  rate 

^  "Britones  toti  mundo  contrarii,  moribus  Romanis  inimici,  non 
solum  in  missa  sed  in  tonsura  etiam."  —  Gildas,  Ep.  II.  cit.  Warren. 

"Qualis  fuerit  apud  Britones  et  Hibernos  sacrificandi  ritus,  non  plane 
compertum  est.  Modum  tamen  ilium  a  Romano  divisum  exstitisse  in- 
telligitur  ex  Bernardo  in  libro  de  vita  Malachiae  cc.  Ill,  VIII.  ubi 
Malachias  barbaras  consuetudines  Romanis  mutasse,  et  canonicum 
divinse  laudis  officium  in  Lllas  ecclesias  invexisse  memoratur." 

—  Mabillon,  De  Lit.  Gall.  I:  ii:  14. 

^  Legend  of  Longinus,  p.  209,f. 

'  "Praeterea  in  aliquibus  locis  Scottorum  quidam  fuerunt,  qui  contra 
totius  Ecclesiae  consuetudinem,  nescio  quo  ritu  barbaro,  missas  celebrare 
consueverant."  —  Theodoric,  Vita  S.  Margaretce,  8  f,  cit.  Warren. 

*  Cf.  Warren,  F.  E.,  The  Liturgy  and  Ritual  of  the  Celtic  Church, 
p.  57  ff.  "There  must  have  been  originally  some  connection  between 
the  Celtic  and  Oriental  Churches.  But  this  connection  need  not  have 
been  direct.  The  most  probable  hypothesis  is  that  Christianity  reached 
the  British  Isles  through  Gaul,  and  that  whatever  traces  of  Eastern  in- 
fluence may  be  found  in  the  earliest  Liturgy  and  Ritual  of  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland  are  not  due  to  the  direct  introduction  of  Christianity  from 
the  East,  but  to  the  Eastern  character  and  origin  of  that  Church 
through  which  Christianity  first  reached  these  shores.  There  is  strong 
circumstantial  evidence  in  favor  of  the  immediately  Galilean  origin  of 
the  British  Church."     Among  these  evidences  are  adduced  the  adop- 


52  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

these  features,  Eastern,  primitive,  or  both,  did  not  by  any 
means  come  to  an  end  with  the  Norman  conquest.  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  was  greatly  concerned  about  them,  though  he 
was,  unfortunately,  too  good  a  pedagogue  to  dwell  on 
blunders.^ 

To  Glastonbury  there  remained  the  task  of  presenting 
to  the  world  its  splendid  combination  of  saintly  founder 
and  kingly  benefactor,  and  its  consequent  claim  to  apostolic 
origin  and  historical  importance,  and  of  making  the  story 
acceptable  to  the  reigning  house.  No  better  means  of  pres- 
entation than  romance  could  have  been  found.  Not  only 
were  nobles  and  gentles  accustomed  to  receive  information 
through  the  medium  of  romance,  but  there  is  strong  prob- 
ability that  there  were  minstrels  at  Glastonbury,  singers 
and  story-tellers,  both  monks  and  laymen,  from  the  days  of 
St.  Aldhelm,  himself  a  singer,  onward.  According  to  San 
Marte  "King  Edward  prohibited  monks  from  being  rim- 
ers or  raconteurs,  a  sufficient  proof  that  they  frequently 
appeared  as  such."  ^  Warton  has  a  good  deal  to  say  of  the 
connection  between  minstrels  and  monasteries.  Sometimes 
the  monkish  singers  celebrated  local  heroes  and  Warton 
says  that  the  Welsh  monasteries  were  the  chief  repositories 
of  the  poetry  of  the  British  bards  .^    Jongleurs,  not  neces- 

tion  by  the  British  Church  of  the  Gallican  psalter,  of  GaUican  usage 
in  liturgy  and  ritual,  the  dedication  of  Celtic  churches  to  GalHcan 
saints,  the  accounts  which  connect  missions  such  as  those  of  St.  Ninian 
of  Scotland  and  St.  Patrick  to  Ireland  with  St.  Martin  of  Tours. 

1  "The  maxims  of  the  Roman  canonists,  introduced  by  the  Normans 
into  England,  had,  as  yet,  found  no  favor  among  a  poor,  rude,  and 
iUiterate  clergy.  It  would  have  been  of  service  to  modern  historians 
had  Giraldus  thought  it  worth  while  to  have  entered  into  more  specific 
details  of  some  of  these  peculiar  usages.  We  might  then  have  been 
able  to  discover  how  much  of  old  Celtic  practice  and  belief  still  existed 
side  by  side  with  a  half-informed  Christianity."  —  J.  S.  Brewer,  Int.  to 
Gemma  Ecclesiastica,  p.  xviii. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  30  n. 
»  I:  89-92. 


^ 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  53 

sarily  under  vows,  seem  to  have  been  attached  to  some 
monasteries.  The  charter  of  the  confraternity  of  jongleurs 
at  the  Benedictine  abbey  of  Fecamp  still  exists/  and  the 
customs  of  Fecamp  were  very  well  known  at  Glastonbury .^ 
Glastonbury  singers  had  every  opportunity  for  knowing 
the  material  of  Celtic  legend  and  custom.  What  more 
worthy  of  their  skill  than  a  narrative  which  should  not  only 
add  to  the  prestige  of  Glastonbury  but  gratify  royal  patrons 
who  were  interested  in  showing  that  the  church  in  England 
was  not  in  any  way  indebted  to  Rome  for  her  existence  nor 
for  knowledge  of  proper  eucharistic  doctrine  and  worship? 
Some  such  purpose  seems  to  be  indicated  by  de  Borron,  for 
the  instruction  given  by  Christ  in  prison  is  in  full  accord- 
ance with  contemporary  teaching/  and  it  should  also  be 
noted  that  emphasis  is  always  placed  on  Joseph's  original 
care  of  Christ's  body.  It  is  as  a  reward  for  that  care  that  he 
is  taught  the  "secret"  words  and  is  promised  remembrance 
wherever  the  mass  renews  the  sacrifice  of  the  sacred  body. 
No  other  saint  than  Joseph  and  no  other  relic  than  his 
sacred  vessel  could  possibly  have  been  so  well  adapted  to 
the   purpose   of  glorifying  transubstantiation.*     It  makes 

1  Bedier,  Les  legendes  epiques,  IV:  15-18. 

2  Vide,  ut  sup.,  p.  48. 
»  Metr.  Jos.  11.  893  ff. 

*  That  one  element  of  the  forces  which  made  for  the  combination  of 
all  this  material  may  have  been  a  desire  to  rival  the  famous  Saint  Sang 
relic  of  Fecamp  seems  very  Ukely,  as  there  must  have  been  at  Glas- 
tonbury a  more  or  less  fat  and  ancient  grudge  borne  towards  Fecamp 
and  its  intrusions,  a  grudge  which  was  probably  not  strong  enough  to 
interfere  with  judicious  borrowings  from  its  legend.  This  may  be 
admitted  without  accepting  in  full  Miss  Weston's  theory  that  "we  have 
here  in  all  respects,  save  the  name,  a  complete  Grail  legend,  and  that 
going  back  to  a  very  much  earlier  date  than  any  of  our  extant  Grail 
romances."  {Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  I:  161.)  Fecamp  claimed  a*' 
miracle  of  a  bleeding  host,  which  is  said  in  the  legend  to  have  occurred 
about  the  year  1000.  But  such  miracles  for  the  most  part  are  of  later 
date,  and  are  part  of  the  propaganda  of  transubstantiation.   It  is  notice- 


54  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

little  difference  whether  this  material  was  put  together  by 
de  Borron,  or  whether  he  founded  his  romance  on  a  Latin 
book  emanating  from  Glastonbury. 

The  idea  that  story-telling  was  used  to  proclaim  the 
glories  of  certain  monasteries  and  that  local  scenes  and 
characters  were  woven  into  the  narrative  is  of  course  familiar 
as  a  theory  of  the  origins  of  French  epic  poetry.^  This  the- 
ory places  the  birth  of  the  chansons  de  geste  in  the  eleventh 
century.  To  assert  that  in  the  next  century  a  monastery 
utilized  the  later  fashion  of  romance  for  the  extension  of 
its  fame  is  to  claim  only  a  moderate  amomit  of  literary 
ingenuity  for  its  scribes. 

VII 

The  student  of  the  Grail  story  finds  no  one  of  its  difficul- 
ties more  puzzling  than  that  of  the  changing  form  of  the 
Grail  vessel  itself,  though  it  is  noticeable  that  the  romancers 

able  that  the  legend  admits  that  the  Saint  Sang  relic  and  the  vessel  of 
the  bleeding  host  were  concealed  and  not  brought  to  Hght  untU  1171, 
when  they  were  displayed  in  a  blaze  of  illumination.  It  does  not  seem 
likely  that  this  legend  had  other  than  local  importance  before  the  time 
of  this  great  glorification,  and  the  transubstantiation  miracle  certainly 
looks  like  a  twelfth-century  improvement  designed  to  give  special 
eucharistic  significance  to  the  relic  of  the  holy  blood.  Glastonbury  may 
have  had  a  natural  as  well  as  an  acquired  desire  to  outdo  Fecamp,  but 
the  motive  behind  both  stories  is  very  hkely  to  have  been  to  proclaim 
transubstantiation  and  to  claim  local  precedence. 

1  Cf.  J.  B^dier,  Les  Ugendes  epiques,  IV:  475,  476.  The  author  thus 
summarizes  his  purpose.  "R^tablir  la  liaison  entre  le  monde  des  clercs 
et  r  autre,  montrer  que  I'eglise  fut  le  berceau  des  chansons  de  geste 
aussi  bien  que  des  mystSres,  revendiquier  pour  elles  leur  vieux  nom 
d^laiss^,  de  roman  de  chevalerie,  et  marquer  par  1^  que  leur  histoire 
est  inseparable  de  I'histou-e  des  id^es  chevaleresques  a  I'epoque  cap6- 
tienne,  rappeler  les  faits  psychologiques  g^n^raux  qui  provoquerent 
en  meme  temps  qu'elles  les  croisades  d'Espagne  et  les  croisades  de 
Terre  sainte,  en  im  mot  les  rattacher  a  la  vie,  c'est  k  quoi  je  me  suis 
efforc6." 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  55 

are   apparently   quite   unconcerned   about   it.-._„Th.&  word 
"grail,"^  which  Hehnandus^  translates  gradalis,  is  said  by 

him  to  mean  a  platter^_wMg  and  sonigwirat"ifeep^  on  ydiich 

gDgtly"~m:uats''arg^^rY£d:iL--He  also  speaks  of_Jlie_GraiI  as 

the  vesselortHe~^_st._Supper.  ^^rty-wfit^-of-the.Grail  as_ 
the^sh  whereon  the  paschal  lamb  la]^__Crestien_  conceived.^ 
it  as  a  holy_objectj  more  or  less  vague,  from  which  light 
streams.    Out  of  it  the  Fisher  king  receives  the  Jiost  jyhiclL-^ 
'^sustains  his  life.    The  host  is  the  consecrated  wafer,  and  yet 
-"fche'^raitTs  said  by  many  ^  to  be  the  cup  of  the  Last  Supper, 
used  by  Joseph  of  Arimathea  to  hold  the  blood  of  the  Re- 
deemer,  which  must  imply   a  vessel  intended  for  liquid 
contents.    At  the  very  end  of  the  Queste  the  host  is  taken 
from  the  Grail  and  administered  to  the  company,  which 
can  hardly  mean  anything  but  that  the  Grail  is  here  the 
ciborium  in  which  the  host  was  reserved  for  the  communion 
of  the  people. 

Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  seems  to  attach  a  wholly  dif- 
ferent meaning  to  the  GraO,  for  he  calls  it  a  noble  stone 
adorned  with  jewels.  In  Diu  Crdne  it  is  mentioned  once  as 
the  tabernacle  and  once  as  a  crystal  monstrance.  Always 
it  has  marvellous  qualities,  always  it  may  come  and  go 
mysteriously,  always  it  is  associated  with  a  miraculous 
supply  of  food  and  drink. 

This  study  has  already  ^  proposed  the  theory  that  the 
Celtic  vessel  of  increase  and  plenty,  adapted  to  Christian 
purposes,  became  the  symbol  of  the  miracle  of  transubstan- 
tiation  and  that  any  accessory  of  the  mass,  intimately 
connected  with  the  miracle,  might  be  described  as  that  sym- 
bol, in  other  words  might  be  the  Grail. ^     Chrestien  was 

1  Vide  W.  A.  Nitze,  Mod.  Phil,  XIII:  11. 
N  2  Migne,  CCXII:  815. 
^  Metr.  Jos.,  Wauchier,  Gr.  St.  Graal,  Queste,  Perlesvaus. 
'  Vide,  p.  42. 

^  In  the  Queste  (ed.  Sommer)  the  phrase  "devant  le  saint  vaissel" 
is  in  one  MS.  rendered  "deuant  lautel." 


56  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

apparently  unconcerned  with  dogmatic  theology,  or,  per- 
haps, had  the  story-teller's  instinct  for  the  denouement  he 
never  reached,  but  in  his  continuators,  in  de  Borron,  and  in 
the  versions  dependent  on  his  narrative,  the  connection  of 
the  Grail  with  the  consecration  of  the  eucharist  seems  clear 
enough.  Let  us  examine  some  of  the  forms  of  the  Grail  in 
the  light  of  this  interpretation. 

The  identification  of  the  Grail  with  the  dish  of  the  paschal 
Iamb  is  taken  by  some  critics  as  marking  a  distinct  division 
in  the  romances.  They  consider  that  such  an  identification 
must  exclude  the  conception  of  the  Grail  as  the  vessel  of 
the  Last  Supper  and  of  the  holy  blood.  Helinandus  says  the 
grail  is  cantinus  or  paropsis,  words  which  in  the  Vulgate 
are  used  indifferently  ^  for  the  dish  in  which  Judas  dipped 
with  Christ.  The  critics  apparently  assume  that  the  dish 
of  the  sop  indicates  a  vessel  used  for  the  Passover  meal, 
with  its  roasted  lamb,  herbs,  unleavened  bread  and  wine, 
and  not  for  the  eucharist  which  followed  it  and  which  was 
instituted  with  bread  and  wine  only.  But  paropsis,  at  least, 
certainly  acquired  a  eucharistic  meaning,-  and  it  is  not  quite 
fair  to  expect  absolute  archaeological  accuracy  from  men  in 
whose  mmds  the  type  had  been  completely  lost  in  the 
fulfilment. 

Christ,  "the  Lamb  that  was  slain,"  ^  is  from  the  begin- 
ning absolutely  identified  with  the  paschal  lamb,  —  Christ 
our  Passover  is  sacrificed  for  us.*  Thus  logically  Christ  in 
the  eucharist  is  the  paschal  lamb  of  the  New  Dispensation. 
This  is  reflected  in  ritual  and  in  liturgies.  In  arranging 
for  the  preparation  of  the  bread  for  the  eucharist  Algerus 
says  that  it  is  to  be  of  the  cleanest  and  purest,  since  it  is  to 

^  Cantinus,  St.  Matthew;  paropsis,  St.  Mark. 
-  "Paropsis.    Vas  ecclesiae  ministeriis  dicatum,  idem  quod  Patena." 
Du  Cange. 
3  Rev.  v:  12. 
*  1.  Cor.  v:  7. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  57 

be  transformed  into  the  most  glorious  body  of  the  immacu- 
late Lamb.^  In  the  Eastern  liturgy  of  St.  John  Chrysostom 
at  the  preparation  of  the  elements  for  the  mass  the  bread  is 
called  "Holy  Bread,"  or  "Holy  Lamb,"  and  the  deacon,  after 
laying  the  "Lamb"  down  in  the  paten,  says  to  the  priest, 
"Sir,  sacrifice."  The  priest  then,  cutting  it  crosswise, 
answers,  "The  Lamb  of  God  is  sacrificed,  etc."  ^  When  the 
host  is  offered  in  the  Roman  mass  it  is  called  "this  immacu- 
late victim"  {hanc  immaculatam  hostiam),  and  the  hymn 
Agnus  Dei  was  at  one  time  ordered  to  be  sung  in  connection 
with  the  ceremonial  fraction  of  the  host.  The  host  was 
sometimes  stamped  with  the  figure  of  a  lamb,  lying  down  or 
standing,  and  the  vision  of  a  lamb  on  the  altar  was  one 
of  the  eucharistic  miracles. 

The  proper  preface  for  Easter  and  the  Easter  sequence, 
or  festal  chant  between  the  Epistle  and  Gospel,  contain  the 
same  figure,  as  do  also  many  pious  treatises.  In  the  Mitrale 
of  Sicardus  of  Cremona  the  paschal  lamb  is  identified  with 
Christ  and  His  presence  in  the  eucharist.^  This  identifica- 
tion is  found  also  in  eucharistic  hymns,  Latin  and  vernacular^ 
and  even  in  popular  literature.^  A  letter  of  St.  Catherine 
of  Siena  to  Messer  Ristoro  Cangiani  ^  carries  out  the  parallel 
between  the  paschal  lamb  and  the  sacrament  of  the  altar  in 
great   detail:  "Thus   sweetly  it   befits   us   to  receive   this 

^  De  sacram.  corp.  et  sang,  dom.,  II:  ix.,  Migne,  CLXXX:  827. 
^  Cf.  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Agnus  Dei. 

^  "Panis  iste  sacramentalis  in  carnem,  et  vinum  in  sanguinem  tran- 
sit: quia  paschalis  Agnus  pro  nobis  occisus,  carnem  nostram  a  morte 
redemit,  et  sanguinem  fundens,  pro  nobis  animam  suam  posuit,  et 
animam  nostram  quae  in  sanguine  habitat  a  criminibus  expiavit." 
Mitrale,  III:  vi,  Migne,  CCXIII:  117,  118. 

*  "ich  meyne  daz  onschuldige  lam, 
gotes  froner  lichnam." 

—  Fronleichnam,    Altdeulsche    Schauspiele,    ed.     Mone. 
p.  163. 
*  Tr.  Scudder,  Letters  of  St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  p.  204. 


58  THE   MYSTIC   VISION    IN 

Lamb,  prepared  in  the  fire  of  charity  upon  the  wood  of  the 
cross." 
But  it  may  be  objected  that  although  to  the  men  of  the 

twelfth  century  the  paschal  lamb  was  more  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  host  on  the  altar  than  with  the  firstling  of  the 
flock  slain  for  the  Passover  feast,  there  is  still  confusion  as 
to  which  eucharistic  vessel  is  to  be  identified  with  this  dish 
of  the  paschal  lamb.  Is  it  the  paten,  or  small  flat  dish  cov- 
ering the  chalice,  is  it  the  chalice  itself,  is  it  the  ciborium  or 
monstrance?  The  answer  is:  any  one  of  them,  according 
to  the  immediate  purpose  of  the  writer  or  the  local  usage 
with  which  he  was  familiar.  Innocent  III,  the  pope  of  the 
Lateran  Council,  identifies  the  paten  with  the  dish  contain- 
ing the  slain  victim,^  and  the  figure  of  Agnus  Dei  is  frequently 
used  as  a  decoration  for  the  centre  of  the  paten.^  In  the 
eleventh  century  the  host  was  broken  on  the  paten,  but  in 
the  twelfth  century  Durandus  directs  that  it  be  broken 
over  the  chalice.  This  is  explained  by  ritualists  as  intended 
to  indicate  that  the  blood  in  the  chalice  proceeds  from  the 
broken  and  mangled  body  of  Christ.  A  portion  of  the  host 
is  then  dropped  into  the  chalice,  to  show  that  the  body  of 
Christ  was  not  without  blood,  nor  the  blood  apart  from  the 
body.'  This  sustains  the  pomt  referred  to  below,'*  that 
both  species  contain  the  whole  Christ.  Therefore  the  chalice 
might  also  be  considered  the  dish  of  the  paschal  lamb,^ 
especially  as  the  blood  of  the  slain  lamb  figured  prominently 

^  "Patena,  quae  dicitur  a  patendo,  cor  latum  et  amplum  signal;  super 
banc  patenam,  i.e.  super  latitudinem  caritatis,  sacrificium  justitise 
debet  offerri,  ut  holocaustum  animse  pingue  fiat."  Migne,  CCXVII: 
834. 

2  Rohault  de  Fleury,  La  Messe,  PI.  CCCXII,  CCCXIII,  CCCXVIII. 
Vide  illustration  opposite. 

'  Durandus,  De  fractione  hostie,  Rationale  divinorum  officiorum,  IV. 

"  p.  62. 

5  Cf.  Rohault  de  Fleury,  op.  ciL,  IV:  119.  Here  the  words  "Ecce 
Agnus  Dei"  are  on  a  chahce. 


PAJzn  or  inoLA-scoTi/RY? 


PATEH  or  5t  bin  Id  -rM  zmvjir 


ymm  roim  or  m  caalice 


ANTIQlZJTr 


BIBLL  or  CflAl^LIS  TflE  BALP. 


cn/iLieE  or  AFPAQA-LinEEieK. 

X-OR-Xr  CETiTURY. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  59 

in  the  Passover  ceremonies.  Moreover  "chalice"  was 
loosely  used  for  the  ciborium  or  cup-shaped  vessel  in  which 
the  host  was  placed  for  reservation  in  the  tabernacle  and 
from  which  the  people  were  communicated.  The  catalogue 
of  the  Stuart  Exhibition  (1889),  listed  a  ciborium  ''known 
as  the  ^Cwp  of  Malcolm  Canmore.'  "  ^  Giraldus  Cambrensis, 
relating  a  miracle  whereby  the  host  was  three  times  snatched 
from  an  impure  priest,  says  the  restored  hosts  were  later 
found  "in  fundo  calicis."  ^  As  late  as  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury Martene  speaks  of  the  priest  as  carrjdng  "calicem  cum 
corpore  Christi."  ^ 

The  word  "ciborium"  has  a  curious  history  of  its  own,  a 
history  which  can  show  transformations  singularly  like  those 
of  the  word  "grail "  in  the  romances.  Beguming  as  the  Greek 
for  the  pod  of  the  lotus,  used,  like  the  gourd,  for  a  drinking 
cup,  it  came  to  mean  the  canopy  over  the  altar.  Later  its 
original  meaning  of  a  cup  became  confused  with  the  Latin 
dhus,  food,  and  so  ciborium  comes  to  mean  a  dish  (vas)  for 
food."*  Then  it  takes  the  meaning  of  the  receptacle  for  the 
eucharist,  either  the  cup  with  an  arched  cover,  or  the  tab- 
ernacle in  which  this  cup  was  placed.^  Glass,  mosaic,  and 
illuminations  show  the  host  administered  to  the  laity  from 
vessels  which  are  in  no  way  different  from  chalices,^  and 
there  is,  moreover,  no  uniformity  whatever  as  to  the  shape 
of  the  chalice.  Those  made  while  they  were  still  used  to 
administer  the  wine  to  the  laity  are  really  loving-cups  with 
two  handles,   and  one  of  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century, 

^  A"".  E.  D.  (Ciborium),  italics  mine. 

2  Spec.  Ec.  IV:  xxvii. 

^  Eg.  Rit.  IV:  xxi:  8. 

■*  "Ciborium  vas  ad  ferendos  cibos."  —  Ugutio  of  Pisa,  cit.  Du  Cange. 

^  "Ciborium,  pro  Area,  ubi  reponitur  pyxis,  in  qua  sacra  eucharistia 
asservatur." —  Du  Cange.    Cf.  Rohault  de  Fleury,  V:  89. 

6  Rohault  de  Fleury,  op.  cit.,  PL  CCLXIV,  CCLXV.  Vide  iUustra- 
tion  opposite. 


60  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

from  Ardagh,  Limerick,  is  a  two-handled  bowl  on  a  low 
foot  much  like  the  dish  known  to  the  trade  as  a  "compote."^ 
Last  of  all  these  transferences  is  a  local  use  of  the  word 
in  Bavaria  where  it  meant  a  portable  altar,  or  altar  stone.^ 
This  use  inevitably  brings  up  the  form  of  the  Grail  as  de- 
scribed by  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  the  Bavarian.^  A 
portable  altar,  tabula  altaris  or  altare  portatile,  is  a  slab  of 
natural  stone  large  enough  to  accommodate  all  the  vessels 
of  the  mass.  Given  a  consecrated  altar  stone,  mass  might 
be  celebrated  in  an  unconsecrated  building  or  out  of  doors. 
Such  an  arrangement  was  demanded  in  times  of  war  and  in 
unsettled  parts  of  the  country.'*  As  might  be  expected,  the 
number  of  portable  altars  increased  notably  during  the 
crusades.  The  slabs  were  made  of  the  more  precious  marbles, 
serpentine  or  porphyry,  and  in  one  example,  at  least,  of  rock 
crystal  covering  a  picture  of  Christ  on  parchment.  These 
were  mounted  in  settings  decorated  with  gold,  precious 
stones,  and  plaques  of  goldsmith's  work  or  enamel.^     Ger- 

1  lb.  CCXCIX. 

*  Ciborium.  "Parvum  altare  mobile,  ut  explicat  Mabillonius  in 
Itin.  Germ.  Quod  Arnulfus  imperator  in  castris  gestari  curabat,  aureis 
laminis  opertimi,  quadratse  figurse,  uno  pede  latum,  altum  duobus, 
praeter  turriculam,  quae  in  crucem  desinit,  quod  etiamnvmi  in  thesauro 
Emmerammensis  asservatur."  Mirac.  S.  Emmer.  torn.  6:  499.  Du 
Cange. 

'  Theodor  Sterzenbach,  in  his  Ursprung  u.  Entwicklung  der  Sage  v. 
heiligen  Gral,  1908,  declared  his  belief  that  Wolfram's  grail  was  a  "trag- 
altar."  I  reached  my  conclusion  without  knowing  of  his,  and  as  my 
approach,  evidence,  and  inference  are  quite  different  from  his  it  is 
hardly  necessary  to  say  anything  here  of  his  views. 

*  "In  itinere  vero  positis,  si  ecclesia  defuerit,  sub  divo,  seu  in  ten- 
toriis,  si  tabula  altaris  consecrata,  cseteraque  ministeria  sacra  ad  id 
officium  pertinentia  adsunt,  Missarum  solennia  celebrari  permittimus." 
Concihum  Moguntiacense,  ann.  888,  cap.  9.     Mansi,  XVIII:  67. 

*  These  altar  stones  are  surprisingly  small.  That  of  Tongres, 
{Vide,  illustration,  p.  62),  is  said  by  de  Fleury  to  be  about  4x5 
inches.  Others  are  larger,  but  often  not  more  than  twelve  inches 
long. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  61 

many  inclined  specially  to  these  portable  altars,  and  they 
were  very  numerous  in  Bavaria.  The  shrine  of  St.  Emeran, 
apostle  of  Bavaria,  at  Ratisbon,  possessed  several,  one  set 
in  a  gold  frame.  After  the  time  of  St.  Louis  this  type  of 
altar  stone  ceased  to  be  made.  Abuses  crept  in  and  the  per- 
mission to  celebrate  mass  anywhere  with  such  an  altar  was 
carefully  restricted.^ 

Wolfram's  poem  is  admittedly  more  closely  related  to  the 
Crusades  than  any  other  of  the  Grail  romances.  To  crusaders 
the  portable  altar,  the  altar  stone  with  its  splendid  setting, 
meant  the  miracle  of  transubstantiation,  the  pilgrim's 
bread  which  was  foreshadowed  by  the  manna  of  the  desert. 
It  is  not  hard  to  understand  its  appeal  to  Wolfram  as  the 
most  apt  symbol  for  sacramental  union  with  God,  for  the 
Grail.2 

One  or  two  further  points  of  controversy  as  to  the  Grail 
itself,  due  to  apparent  contradictions  in  the  legend,  may  be 
cleared  up  if  the  language  of  eucharistic  liturgy  and  doctrine 
be  considered  and  due  allowance  made  for  the  passing  of 
the  ideas  involved  through  the  unecclesiastical  medium  of 
romance. 

Heinzel  thought  that  the  sense  of  the  Grail  as  a  blood 
relic  is  lost  in  the  sense  of  it  as  host,  and  that  the  paten,  or 
flat  vessel,  is  confused  with  the  cup  or  chalice.  In  the 
Queste  Galahad  seems  to  receive  corpus  domini  from  the 
Grail  itself.     This  difficulty  is  phrased  by  Miss  Weston: 


^  Vide  Rohault  de  Fleury,  op.  dt.,  V:   1-47. 

2  Nutt  says,  "Be  the  reason  what  it  may,  Wolfram  certainly  never 
thought  of  associating  the  Grail  with  the  Last  Supper.  But  its  religious 
character  is,  at  times,  as  marked  with  him  as  with  Robert  de  Borron  or 
the  author  of  the  Queste."  {Studies  on  the  Legend  of  the  H.  G.,  p.  251.) 
One  may  agree  that  Wolfram  did  not  have  the  actual  Last  Supper  in 
Jerusalem  in  mind,  for  he  does  not  seem  to  have  been  concerned  as  to 
the  early  history  of  the  Grail,  but  that  is  not  to  say  that  he  had  no 
eucharistic  association  with  it. 


62  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

"It  cannot  escape  the  notice  of  any  careful  student  of  the  stories 
that  between  the  version  of  Robert  de  Borron  .  .  .  and  that  of  the 
Queste,  a  change  has  taken  place :  the  point  of  interest  has  shifted 
from  conlenu  to  container;  it  is  no  longer  the  holy  blood  which  is 
the  object  of  adoration,  but  rather  the  Grail,  the  vessel  in  which 
the  blood  was  preserved."  ^ 

If  the  Grail  is  the  symbol  of  transubstantiation,  it  makes 
little  difference  which  part  of  the  sacrament  is  illustrated 
by  it,  for  the  whole  Christ  is  present  under  the  form  of  either 
bread  or  wine.^  The  numerous  miracles  of  the  bleeding  host 
show  the  belief  that  the  holy  blood  was  contained  in  the 
host,  and  as  a  fragment  of  the  host  is  always  dropped  into 
the  chalice,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  symbol  of  the  Grail 
may  shift  from  chalice  to  paten,  or  even  to  monstrance  and 
tabernacle,  and  still  represent  Christ  under  the  sacramental 
veil.  Moreover,  though  the  host  was  consecrated  on  the 
paten  or  over  the  chalice,  yet  for  the  communion  of  the 
people  it  was,  as  we  have  seen,  placed  in  the  ciborium  (a 
chalice-shaped  vessel,  but  somewhat  wider  in  the  bowl),  a 

1  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  I:  333.  It  strikes  one  as  a  little  unreason- 
able of  Miss  Weston  to  refuse  to  the  romancers  the  use  of  a  metonjony 
freely  employed  by  contemporary  theologians,  e.g.  "Hie  calix.  Con- 
tinens  pro  contento,  calix  pro  sanguine,  quia  in  calice  sanguis.  Calix 
in  Scriptura  pluribus  modis  accipitur.  Aliquando  per  calicem  sanguis 
Christi  designatur,  sicut  hie,  et  in  psalmo:  'Calix  mens  inebrians 
quam  prseclarus  est.'  (Psal.  XXII.)"  Baldwin  of  Canterbury,  Liber 
de  Sacramento  altaris,  Migne,  CCIV:  772. 

2  "Christus  est  verus  Deus  et  verus  homo,  ideo  consequenter  est  ibi 
Deus  gloriosus  in  majestate  sua.  Haec  omnia  quatuor  simul,  et  singula 
tota  simul,  sub  speciebus  panis  et  vini  perfecte  continentur,  non  minus 
in  calice,  quam  in  hostia;  nee  minus  in  hostia,  quam  in  calice;  nee  in 
uno  defectus  suppletur  alterius,  cum  nuUus  sit;  sed  in  ambobus  in 
tegrum  continentur  propter  mysterium."  —  St.  Bonaventura,  Trac.  de 
Prep,  ad  Missam,  I:  1. 

In  Gr.  St.  Graal  Joseph  takes  from  the  paten  "piece  en  samblance 
de  pain"  and  finds  that  it  is  "uns  cors  entiers."  In  Metr.  Jos.  Joseph 
told  that  the  host  is  to  be  placed  in  a  chalice. 


AMniATVKE  XV  ^rniui^Y 

BlBUOTrtfOyE     NATIONAIX-. 


eATAconBopS^  prTWv5  Err  mieriiini/^. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  63 

practice  which  would  account  for  Galahad's  receiving  the 
host  from  the  Grail  without  any  confusion  between  paten 
and  chalice.  Here  the  Grail  is  the  ciborium,  as  it  is  also  in 
any  incident  where  it  is  seen  on  the  altar,  but  not  in  connec- 
tion with  the  actual  celebration  of  mass,  for  the  ciborium 
was  used  to  contain  the  host  reserved  in  the  tabernacle. 


VIII 

Another  point  of  discussion  immediately  connected  with 
the  Grail  is  that  of  the  "secret"  concerning  it  confided  by 
Christ  to  Joseph  in  prison.  About  this  de  Borron  is  ret- 
icent, saying  (in  Metr.  Jos.)  he  dares  not  go  into  detail 
about  it  as  he  has  not  the  great  book  written  by  great  clerks 
concerning  it.  In  the  prose  version  of  the  Joseph  (Cange  MS.) 
the  sacramental  emphasis  is  stronger.  The  words  are  to  be 
spoken  only  by  one  who  has  read  the  great  book,  and  the 
secret  is  said  to  belong  to  the  great  sacrament  made  over 
the  Grail,  that  is  chalice.^  The  secrets  appear  also  in  the 
Prose  Perceval.  Alain  is  told  by  the  voice  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
that  he  shall  learn  the  secret  words  that  Joseph  knew.  In 
the  Queste,  where  the  eucharist  is  administered  by  Christ, 
He  assures  the  knights  that  He  can  no  longer  hold  any  part 
of  His  secrets  from  them.^    He  then  feeds  all  from  the  Grail. 

According  to  Durandus,  the  great  expositor  of  ritual,  the 
silent  recital  of  the  canon  of  the  mass,  the  prayer  of  conse- 
cration, is  called  the  secreta.^    The  reason  commonly  assigned 

1  "Ce  est  li  secrez  que  I'en  tient  au  grant  sacrement  que  I'an  feit 
sor  lou  Graal  c'est-a-dire  sor  lou  caalice." 

2  "Si  conuient  que  vous  vees  par  tie  de  me  reposatilles  et  de  mes 
secres."  ed.  Sommer,  p.  190. 

^  Op.  cit.,  lY.  In  modern  Roman  use,  though  the  canon  is  still  re- 
cited secretly,  the  word  secreta  is  confined  to  the  prayer  said  in  a  low 
voice  by  the  celebrant  at  the  end  of  the  offertory.  This  restriction  is 
reaUy  the  earlier  usage,  the  extension  of  the  term  to  include  the  canon 
being  medieval. 


64  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

for  this  secret  rendering  is  that  the  consecration  is  an  ex- 
clusively priestly  function.^ 

This  contemporary  meaning  of  "secret,"  which  is  cer- 
tainly indicated  in  Prose  Jos.,  seems  to  make  it  fairly  clear 
that  the  words  whereby  the  miracle  of  the  eucharist  is  to 
be  performed  are  intrusted  to  Joseph,  but  it  is  not  difficult 
to  conceive  that  the  word  "secret"  might  come  to  be  applied 
to  the  miracle  itself.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  a  contempo- 
rary treatise,  the  Mitrale  of  Sicardus  of  Cremona,  who  was 
flourishing  at  the  tune  of  the  Lateran  Council,  it  is  so  used. 

"A  mystery  of  faith,  since  one  thing  is  seen  and  another  is 
known,  the  species  of  bread  and  of  wine  is  perceived,  the  body  of 
Christ  and  His  blood  believed.  In  Greek  a  mystery,  in  Latin  a 
secret."  ^ 

A  mystery,  technically  speakuig,  "is  a  supernatural  truth, 
one  that  of  its  very  nature  lies  above  the  finite  intelligence."  ' 
The  doctrines  of  the  Trinity  and  of  the  Incarnation  are  two 
of  the  chief  mysteries  of  faith,  and  transubstantiation  is  here 
declared  by  Sicardus  to  be  another,  thus  according  with 
the  symbol  of  the  Lateran  Council.  So  the  "secret  of  the 
Grail"  may  very  well  be  not  only  the  words  of  consecration 
but  also  the  miracle  of  transubstantiation  performed  by 

^  "Secreta  idee  nominatur,  quia  secrete  dicitur,  et  solius  est  sacer- 
dotis  soli  Deo  offerre  sacrificium." —  Hildebert  of  Lavardin,  Lib.  de 
expositione  7niss<x,  Migne,  CLXXI:  1159. 

2  "  Mysterium  fidei,  quoniam  aliud  videtur  et  aliud 
intelligitur,  species  panis  et  vini  cernitur,  corpus  Christi 
et  sanguis  creditor.    Mysterium  Grsece,  Latine  secretum." 

—  Migne,  CCXIII:  130. 
»  Cf.  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Mystery.  Also  Mone,  Hymni  Latini,  I:  270- 
273.  Gawain's  vision  {Perlesvaus,  VI:  iii),  and  the  hermit's  interpre- 
tation of  it  {Ih.,  VI:  xii),  seem  an  allegorical  rendering  of  the  mystery 
that  after  consecration  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  are  replaced 
by  the  substance  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  This  miracle  is  said 
to  be  the  secret  of  the  Savior,  to  be  revealed  only  to  those  selected 
for  such  honor. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  65 

them.  Certainly,  when  one  considers  the  vast  bulk  of  lit- 
erature, didactic  and  devotional,  on  the  subject  it  is  not 
surprising  that  de  Borron  shrank  from  entering  more  ex- 
plicitly into  controversy  about  it.^ 

1  On  this  matter  of  the  "secret  of  the  Grail"  I  take  issue  squarely 
with  Miss  Weston.  (Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  II:  232,  233.)  She  first 
speaks  of  the  secret  as  confided  by  Joseph  to  Brons  and  by  Brons  to 
Perceval,  ignoring  the  fact  that  it  was  first  of  all  confided  to  Joseph  by 
Christ  in  immediate  connection  with  sacramental  directions.  {Metr. 
Jos.)  So  there  is  a  eucharistic  association  with  the  secret  from  the 
beginning.  She  then  draws  attention  to  the  "awkward  fact  that  the 
formula  of  consecration  is  not,  and  never  has  been,  secret."  This 
dodges  a  still  more  awkward  fact,  for  whether  the  words  of  consecration 
are  or  are  not  secret  they  are  so  called  in  medieval  usage.  Durandus, 
the  great  rituahst,  so  calls  them,  and  there  is  no  difficulty  in  finding 
numerous  examples.  The  word  is  extended  by  Du  Cange  to  the  tabella, 
or  tablet  on  which  the  canon  of  the  mass  alone  was  written  and  which 
was  placed  on  the  altar  for  the  convenience  of  the  priest.  Miss  Weston 
apparently  confines  the  meaning  of  "secret"  to  that  which  is  not  known. 
But  the  word  also  bears  the  meaning  of  that  which  is  not  understood, 
the  mysterious,  in  classical  and  Low  Latin  and  in  Old  French  as  well  as 
in  modern  French  and  English.  Du  Cange  cites  Hugh  of  St.  Victor, 
^'Sacramentum  quomodo  altera  notione  intelligi  dixit  quasi  scihcet 
sacrum  secretum,  velut  Sacramentum  Incarnationis."  Sacramentum, 
mysterium,  secretum  all  convey  the  idea  of  that  which  is  not  compre- 
hended by  human  reason. 

Miss  Weston's  main  contention  is  that  if  the  Grail  writers  meant  by 
"secret"  the  words  of  consecration  they  meant  to  discredit  the  au- 
thority of  the  church  at  large  to  receive  and  transmit  the  formula.  But 
to  recount  the  special  eucharistic  instruction  and  explanation  given 
by  Christ  to  Joseph  is  not  to  declare  that  this  was  the  only  orthodox 
explanation  ever  vouchsafed  on  the  subject.  St.  Paul  claimed  for  him- 
self first-hand  revelation  as  to  the  eucharist  and  its  ceremonies,  or,  at 
least,  such  is  the  ordinary  interpretation  of  /.  Cor.  xi:  23  ff.,  but  he 
did  not  mean  that  this  invalidated  the  teaching  and  practice  of  the 
apostles  who  were  present  at  the  Last  Supper,  nor  did  any  one  so  under- 
stand him.  The  romancers  claim  only  equal,  not  exclusive  revelation 
for  the  church  in  Britain. 

Elsewhere  (76.,  II:  300)  Miss  Weston  opposes  the  identification  of 
the  mystery  of  the  Grail  with  that  of  the  eucharist,  arguing  that  in 
such  case  Perceval  would  have  achieved  the  quest  when  he  made  his 


66  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 


IX 


A  minor  question  in  Grail  criticism  is  that  of  the  occa- 
sional glimpses  of  the  legend  of  the  Earthly  Paradise  which 
are  found  here  and  there  in  the  Grail  romances.^  The 
country  side  restored  to  fertility  by  the  achievement  of  the 
Grail  is  usually  compared  to  the  Earthly  Paradise.  In 
Parzival  the  hero  partakes  of  its  fruits  on  his  first  visit  to 
the  Grail  castle,  and  in  Gerbert  the  sword  of  the  Grail  castle 
is  broken  in  the  attempt  to  force  an  entrance  to  Paradise. 
One  of  Bohort's  adventures  in  the  Queste  is  concerned  with 
the  bird  on  the  dead  tree,  which  pierced  its  own  breast  that 
its  young  might  be  sustained  with  the  blood,  and  the  her- 
mit explains:  "There  was  the  token  and  likeness  of  the 
Sangreal  appeared  afore  you."  -  This  instance  of  the  dead 
tree  and  the  birds  is  found  in  one  of  the  Paradise  stories, 
the  journey  of  Seth  to  the  Earthly  Paradise.^ 

In  Perlesvaus,^  the  Grail  castle  is  called  Edain  and  it  is 
watered  by  the  rivers  of  Paradise.  Any  souls  dying  therein 
are  sure  of  the  heavenly  Paradise.    This  transformation  of 

communion  on  Easter  day.  I  do  not  contend  that  the  Grail  is  the 
eucharist,  but  that  it  is  the  symbol  of  transubstantiation  which  gives 
the  eucharist  its  validity  and  which  is  accepted  by  the  ordinary  com- 
municant by  faith.  Perceval,  who  has  been  excommunicate  for  seven 
years,  must  regain  the  privilege  of  sacramental  communion  by  means 
of  penitence  and  faith  before  he  can  hope  to  go  on  to  the  quest  of  mystic 
knowledge  of  the  miracle. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  feel  that  Miss  Weston  has  stated  the  position  in 
plain  terms  nor  refuted  it.  She  is  too  obviously  preparing  the  ground 
for  her  theory  of  de  Borron  as  an  initiate  of  a  survival  of  fertility  mys- 
teries, and  has  ignored  very  important  points  both  in  her  statement 
and  in  her  refutation. 

1  Cf .  Sir  Gawain  at  the  Grail  Castle,  ed.  J.  L.  Weston,  p.  81  n. 

^  Morte  Darthur,  XVI:  xiii. 

^  Cf.  Graf,  Arturo,  II  mito  del  Paradiso  terrestre,  in  Mitt,  leggende  e 
superstitioni  del  medio  evo,  1 :  76  fif. 

*  XXII:  iff. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  67 

the  garden  into  a  city  or  castle  is  not  by  any  means  unique, 
and  Graf  connects  it  with  the  apocalyptic  description  of 
the  heavenly  city,  the  Paradise  of  God.^  For  though  the 
literal  Earthly  Paradise  was  viewed  as  a  spot  having  geo- 
graphical location  to  the  eastward,  which  might  some  day 
be  found  by  a  lucky  traveler,  it  had  also  its  symbolic  mean- 
ing which  was  at  least  as  important  as  the  literal.  The 
Earthly  Paradise  symbolized  the  church,  with  baptism  its 
river,  Christ  its  tree  of  life,  the  fruit  thereof  the  eucharist.^ 

So  the  Grail  castle  may  well  be  called  Edain  for  a  better 
reason  than  is  suggested  by  Iselin,  who  considers  the  name 
only  a  poetic  figure  of  speech  indicating  a  condition  of  joy 
and  peace.^  It  is  allegorically  the  church,  and  when  the 
Grail  is  restored  to  it,  when  the  true  value  is  placed  on  the 
eucharist  and  its  spiritual  gifts,  then  the  barren  wastes 
shall  blossom  as  the  garden  of  Eden. 

Another  indication  that  the  Grail  castle  is  a  figure  of  the 
church  is  that  its  innermost  gate  is  described  as  a  rood 
screen,  the  usual  division  between  the  nave  and  the  choir, 
beyond  which  is  the  altar.  Gawain,  looking  at  the  gate, 
sees  Our  Lord  stretched  as  it  were  upon  the  cross,  with  His 
Mother  on  one  the  side,  and  St.  John  on  the  other,  and  the 
figures  were  all  of  gold  with  rich  stones  which  glowed  like 
flames.'*  The  figures  on  a  chancel  screen  are  almost  inva- 
riably arranged  in  this  way. 

1  Op.  cit.  I:  19. 

2  Vide  infra,  p.  92. 

'  Der  morgenldndische  Ursprtmg  der  Grallegende. 

*  Perlesvaus,  VI:  xv.  Gawain  "esgarde  la  porte  contremont  et 
voit  Nostre  Seignor  escrit  si  comme  il  fu  mis  an  la  croiz,  et  sa  m^re 
d'une  part  et  seint  Jehanz  d'autre." 


68  THE   MYSTIC   VISION    IN 


X 


One  of  the  most  striking  points  in  the  development  of 
the  Grail  romances  is  the  change  in  the  status  of  the  hero  of 
the  quest.  Perceval  comes  to  us  out  of  the  Celtic  past  as 
lover  and  husband,  but  goes  from  us  in  the  Perlesvaus  con- 
sciously and  aggressively  chaste,  with  a  chastity  which  is 
uncompromisingly  identified  with  celibacy.^  This  condition 
is  said  to  be  absolutely  essential;  without  it  Perceval  must 
fail  as  did  Lancelot.^  De  Borron  apparently  had  the  same 
idea  in  Metr.  Jos.  when  he  made  Alain  deliberately  choose 
not  to  marry.  The  celibate  chastity  of  the  hero  is  a  funda- 
mental part  of  the  Queste,  and  one  which  the  reader  is  never 
allowed  to  forget.  Here  it  is  embodied  —  if  that  is  not  too 
material  a  word  —  in  the  blameless  and  bloodless  Galahad, 
who  takes  the  centre  of  the  stage,  and  thanks  to  Malory  and 
Tennyson,  has  succeeded  in  keeping  it  as  far  as  English 
readers  are  concerned.  This  matter  is  either  casually  put 
aside  by  scholars  as  a  mere  consequence  of  monkish  ideas  of 
chastity,  or  is  carried  very  far  afield.  Rhys  thinks  it  origi- 
nated in  the  "shyness  of  Cuchulainn, "  and  Miss  Weston 
finds  in  it  a  parallel  to  a  feature  in  the  Hindoo  cosmogony. 3 

1  XXXII:  xxi.  (Perceval)  "quar  il  ne  perdi  onques  sa  virginite  pour 
fame,  ce  dist  Josephus;  ainz  morut  vierge  et  chastes  et  nez  de  son 
cors." 

XI:  iii.  "Perceval,  ce  dit  I'estoire,  fu  mout  honor6  el  chastel  la 
r6ine  des  Puceles,  qui  mout  estoit  de  grant  beaute.  La  r6ine  I'amoit 
de  mout  tres  grant  amor,  mes  ele  savoit  bien  qu'ele  n'an  aroit  ja  son 
d^sirrier,  ne  dame  ne  damoisele  qui  s'antente  i  meist;  car  il  estoit  chaste 
et  en  chaste^  vouloit  morir." 

-  Cf.  PerlesvaiLS,  X:  xv.  "Li  rois  hermites  li  demande  se  il  avoit 
v6u  le  Graal,  et  il  li  dist  que  nanil.  Je  sais  bien,  fet  il  rois,  por  quoi 
ce  fu.  Le  vos  fuissiez  en  autre  tel  d&irrier  de  v^oir  le  saint  Graal  conme 
vos  estes  de  v^oir  le  reine,  vos  I'eussiez  v6u." 

'  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  II:  280.  Her  argument  is  that  in  spite  of 
Alain's  refusal  to  marry  he  appears,  without  any  explanation,  as  father 
of  the  Grail  winner,  and  that  the  same  is  true  of  Narada,  son  of  Brahma. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  69 

Is  it  not,  however,  conceivable  that  both  these  analogies 
go  back  to  a  primitive  custom  which  reached  the  Land  of 
the  Grail  by  the  highroad  of  Jerusalem  and  Rome?  A  recent 
writer  says:^  "During  the  actual  performance  of  sacred 
rites,  chastity  is  almost  everywhere  exacted."  It  should 
be  noted  that  in  this  there  is  something  quite  different  from 
the  hermit's  seclusion;  the  sacrificing  priest,  and  even  the 
attendants  at  a  sacrifice,  bring  their  own  gift  of  renunciation 
to  join  with  the  offering.  This  universal  idea  found  its 
place  in  Jewish  worship.  Temporary  chastity  as  a  qualifica- 
tion even  for  laymen  engaged  in  special  religious  exercises 
is  indicated.^  Moreover,  though  the  Jewish  priesthood  was 
hereditary,  the  priest  was  ceremonially  purified  before  his 
term  of  actual  service  and  lived  in  cloistral  seclusion  in  the 
sacred  precincts  while  it  lasted.  Both  ideas  were  familiar 
in  the  early  days  of  Christianity.  Says  Mrs.  Parsons: 
"In  imitation  of  the  Jews,  ceremonial  continence  during 
his  actual  ministration  was  probably  required  of  the  priest 
from  the  beginning."^  St.  Jerome  preached  the  superiority 
of  the  ascetic  life  in  general,  but  exhorted  the  priests  in 
particular,  that  as  the  Christian  priest  is  always  on  duty,  it 
therefore  behooves  him  to  be  always  chaste.^ 

The  history  of  the  struggle  between  ecclesiastical  ideas 
and  human  nature  is  to  be  read  in  the  proceedings  of  almost 
every  council,  but  by  the  tenth  century  clerical  morality 
was  at  a  pretty  low  ebb.^  Authorities  differ  as  to  the  extent 
of  marriage,  more  or  less  explicit,  among  the  clergy,  but 
certainly  it  was  to  be  found  in  the  regions  remote  from  the 

^  'John  Main,"  pseud.  Elsie  Clews  Parsons,  Religious  Chastity, 
p.  215. 

2  Cf.  Exodus,  xix:  15;    1  Samuel,  xxi:  4. 

»  lb.,  p.  258. 

^  Adversus  Jovianum,  I:  34. 

^  Cf.  Lea,  Historical  Sketch  of  Sacerdotal  Celibacy,  XIII,  XIV: 
Herbert  Thurston,  Cath.  Erie.  Art.  Celibacy.  Ch.  Oulmont,  Les  debats 
du  clerc  et  du  chevalier,  pp.  24flf. 


70  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

centres.  It  was  to  Gregory  VII  (Hildebrand),  that  his  im- 
mediate successors  gave  the  honor  of  introducing,  or  of  re- 
enforcing,  the  absolute  chastity  of  the  ministers  of  the 
altar.  ^  This  determination  of  Gregory  is  generally  attrib- 
uted to  his  desire  to  solidify  the  power  of  the  Holy  See 
by  assuring  it  a  body  of  ministrants  who  had  no  interests 
apart  from  it.  While  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
political  motive  was  strong,  it  is  worth  noticing  how  often 
the  service  of  the  altar  is  connected  with  the  pleas  for  celi- 
bacy. Innocent  III  scored  those  who  would  serve  both 
Venus  and  Virgin. ^  After  the  same  fashion  Hildebert  of 
Lavardin  exhorted  the  clergy  to  maintain  their  purity  as 
befitting  those  who  were  entrusted  to  pronounce  the  words 
which  effect  transubstantiation.^  And  this  is  generally 
agreed  to  be  the  first  use  of  the  term  "  transubstantiation," 
though  not,  of  course,  the  first  expression  of  the  doctrine. 
This  feeling  is  reflected  also  in  popular  satire.^ 

In  spite  of  Gregory's  determination  to  discipline  the 
clergy  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  reform  lagged  in  outlying 

^  "Sed  nee  illi,  qui  in  crimine  fornicationis  jacent,  missas  celebrare, 
aut  secundum  inferiores  ordines  ministrari  altari  debeant."  —  Council 
of  Rome,  1074.    Mansi,  Con.  Col,  XX:  404. 

2  "Quidam  nocte  filium  Veneris  agitant  in  cubili,  mane  filium  Vir- 
ginis  offerunt  in  altari.  Nocte  Venerem  amplexantur,  mane  Virginem 
venerantur."    Migne,  CCXVII:  368. 

»  Sermon,  Migne,  CLXXI:  772  ff.    For  text  vide  App. 
*  Tu  sacerdos  hue  responde 
cuius  manus  sunt  immunde, 
qui  frequenter  et  jocunde 
cum  uxore,  dormis  unde 
surgens  mane  missam  dicis 
Corpus  Christi  benedicis 
scire  velim  causam,  quare 
sacrosanctum  ad  altare 
statim  venis  immolare 
virgis  dignus  vapulare. 

—  Carmina  Burana,  ed.  1847,  p.  36. 
Cf.  also  poems  by  Walter  Map,  Camden  Society,  49,  50. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  71 

parts  of  Britain,  especially  in  Wales  and  the  Marches  there- 
of. "Romish  discipline  and  ecclesiastical  system  had  never 
fully  prevailed  in  Wales.  .  .  .  Marriage  prevailed  generally 
among  the  clergy,  allowed,  but  not  named.  Every  clergy- 
man appears  to  have  followed  the  custom  of  having  a  female 
attendant  to  take  care  of  his  house,  whom  Giraldus,  in  the 
language  of  the  canonists,  calls  a  focaria;  to  all  intents  and 
purposes  a  wife.  Of  course  no  marriage  rites  could  be  cele- 
brated between  the  parties  in  the  face  of  the  church."  ^ 
Giraldus  himself  gives  a  vivid  glimpse  of  the  canons  of  St. 
David's  and  their  excessively  domestic  preoccupations.^ 

In  the  Gemma  Ecclesiastical  Giraldus  devotes  the  greater 
part  of  Distinction  II  to  clerical  chastity,  which  he  perfectly 
well  knew  to  be  a  thorny  question.  Indeed  he  is  somewhat 
inclined  to  consider  the  prohibition  of  clerical  marriage  a 
device  of  the  devil.  Nevertheless,  in  the  unsavory  state  of 
things  he  can  do  no  less  than  exhort  the  clergy  to  a  rigid 
keeping  of  the  ecclesiastical  law,  and  the  heart  of  his  exhor- 
tation is  the  unfitness  of  the  impure  priest  to  consecrate 
the  eucharist.  In  the  Speculum  Ecclesim,'^  Giraldus  is  quite  as 
emphatic.  Starting  with  the  Jewish  requirement  of  cere- 
monial chastity,  he  asks  if  as  much  is  not  required  of  those 
who  consecrate  at  the  altar,  not  the  flesh  of  bulls  and  of 
kids,  but  the  Lord  Himself  and  true  lamb,  not  in  shadow  and 
figure,  but  in  truth.^ 

The  requirement  of  chastity  was  extended  from  the  sac- 
rificing priest  to  those  in  minor  orders  and  others  who 
assisted  him.  Giraldus  relates  a  story  of  sacrilege  rebuked 
by  a  miracle  where  the  offender  is  an  acolyte  who  during 

^  Brewer,  J.  S.,  Giraldi  Cambrensis  Opera,  II:  xli,  xlii. 

2  De  jure  statu  Menevensis  Ecclesioe,  Dist.  I.  lb.  III. 

3  lb.  II. 

*  Dist.  IV:  xxiii.    76.  II. 

'  "Sed  Dominum  ipsum  agnumque  Paschalem  verum,  non  um- 
bratilem  ilium  et  figuralem,  sed  realem." 


72  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

mass  let  his  glance  stray  to  a  woman. ^  Caesarius  of  Heis- 
terbach  tells  of  the  detection  of  a  nun  who  continued  to 
wash  the  altar  linen  after  she  had  broken  her  vow  of  chastity .^ 

So  the  celibacy  required  of  the  Grail  keeper  and  of  the 
knight  who  would  achieve  the  quest  is  seen  to  have  close 
affinities  with  the  ceremonial  purity  of  the  officiant  at  a 
sacrifice,  a  requirement  which  was  the  subject  of  much 
contemporary  exhortation.  Local  conditions  may  have 
sharpened  the  point,  for  the  Glastonbury  monks,  whose 
monastic  vows  of  course  included  chastity,  were  in  perpet- 
ual and  scornful  disaccord  with  their  neighbors,  the  secular 
canons  of  Wells,  whose  cherished  privilege  of  separate  dwel- 
lings favored  the  presence  oi  focaria  as  described  above;  ^ 
a  condition  of  affairs  tending  to  arouse  suspicion  and 
recrimination. 

In  the  prose  romances  there  is  no  doubt  whatever  as  to 
the  motive  of  the  chastity.  In  Gr.  St.  Graal  Joseph  is  told 
by  the  voice  of  Christ  that  he  is  to  have  charge  of  the  flesh 
and  blood  of  the  Saviour,  because  he  is  proved  and  known 
to  be  more  free  from  natural  sin  than  any  mortal  flesh  can 
conceive.*  In  the  same  romance  Joseph  delegates  his  office 
to  Alain,  twelfth  son  of  Brons,  because  of  his  virginity.^ 
The  coming  of  Galahad  is  also  foreshadowed  —  the  ninth 
descendant  of  Nascien  will  be  perfectly  chaste,  will  possess 
all  virtue  and  behold  the  wonders  of  the  Grail. ^ 

^  Gemma,  II:  xvi.         ^  Dialogus  miraculorum,  IX:  Ixvi.       '  p.  71. 

*  "Car  iou  tai  proue  et  conneu  por  le  plus  net  de  tous  natureus  peciea 
que  nule  morteus  char  ne  poroit  penser."     ed.  Sommer.  p.  31. 

*  "  Je  vous  otroi  boinement  a  estre  ministres  del  saint  graal  et  encore 
pour  ce  que  vous  aues  uoe  si  haute  et  si  fort  (e)  chose  a  uostre  oes 
comme  uirginite  vous  otri  ie  que  vous  aies  la  signourie  del  sant  uaisel 
que  vuos  maues  demande  si  que  vous  en  soies  sires  apres  ma  mort." 
ed.  Sommer,  p.  249. 

*  "II  sera  uierges  tous  les  jours  de  sa  uie  et  en  la  fin  de  lui  si  sera  si 
meruielleuse  que  de  cheualier  mortel  qui  a  son  tamps  soit  ni  aura  nul 
qui  a  lui  soit  samblables."    ed.  Sommer,  p.  207. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  73 

Here  we  have  chastity  as  a  requirement  not  only  for  the 
keeper  of  the  Grail  but  also  for  those  who  would  achieve  a 
sight  of  it.  This  appears  in  Perlesvaus  when  Perceval  laments 
the  failure  of  Gawain  and  Lancelot  and  the  hermit  answers: 
"Fair  nephew,  had  they  been  chaste  as  are  you,  well  might 
they  have  entered  on  account  of  their  good  knighthood."  ^ 
Lancelot's  unworthiness  is  sternly  dealt  with  by  late  ro- 
mancers. In  the  Perlesvaus  he  learns  that  unrepented  sin  in 
his  heart,  his  love  for  the  queen,  will  always  come  between 
him  and  the  Grail. ^  In  the  Queste  he  is  told  that  even  if  the 
Grail  were  before  him,  he  would  as  little  see  it  as  a  blind  man 
would  a  sword,^  because  in  spite  of  his  many  virtues  he  has 
lost  chastity. 

As  has  been  said,  the  chastity  of  Galahad  becomes  almost 
the  motif  of  the  Queste,  and  through  Malory's  use  of  it  the 
central  point  of  Tennyson's  conception  of  the  Grail  story. 
From  a  ceremonial  requirement,  symbolical  of  the  purity  of 
heart  required  of  those  who  would  see  God,  it  gradually  be- 
comes a  condition  of  knightly  prowess,  the  reason  why  a 
tough  lance  thrusteth  sure.  But  the  medieval  romance 
never  so  confuses  the  physical  and  the  spiritual.  Lancelot's 
sword  arm  is  not  weakened  by  his  sin.  But  at  Galahad's 
supreme  moment  we  are  again  told  that  it  is  because  of 
his  virginity  that  he  is  permitted  to  know  the  marvels  of 

1  XVIII:  xviii. 

*  X:  X.  "Mes  itant  vos  veil-je  bien  dire,  se  vos  gisiez  en  I'ostel 
li  roi  Pescheor,  que  du  Graal  ne  verroiz-vos  mie  por  le  mortel  pechie 
qui  vos  gist  el  cuer." 

X:  xii.  "Mes  li  contes  tesmoigne  que  li  Graaus  ne  s'aparut  mie  k 
celui  mangier.  II  ne  demora  mie  por  ce  que  Lanceloz  ne  fust  un  des 
III  chevaliers  del  monde  de  plus  grant  renon  et  de  greignor  force;  mes 
per  le  grant  p4chi4  de  la  r6ine  qu'il  enmoit  sanz  repantir,  quar  il  ne 
panssoit  tant  k  nule  riens  conme  a  lui,  ne  n'an  povoit  son  cuer  oster." 

^  "  Se  li  saint  graaus  venoit  deuant  vous  ie  ne  quit  pas  que  vos  le 
peussies  veoir  noiant  plus  que  vns  auugles  feroit  vne  espee  qui  deuant 
see  iex  seroit."      ed.  Sommer,  p.  88. 


74  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

the  Grail.    Not  physical   prowess   but  spiritual  enlighten- 
ment is  dependent  on  purity. 

In  view  of  this  ceremonial  tradition  and  theory,  persist- 
ent and  true  to  type  in  spite  of  the  encroachments  of  human 
frailty,  it  seems  hardly  necessary  to  wait  for  a  possible  Celtic 
precedent  with  Nutt,^  or  with  Miss  Weston  to  suppose  de 
Borron  to  be  an  "initiate"  of  anything  more  remote  than' 
ecclesiastical  rule  and  ideal.  In  the  early  days  of  British 
Christianity  there  must  have  been  many  instances  of  the 
sons  of  the  clergy  taking  their  father's  office,  even  though  a 
ceremonial  continence  had  been  exacted.  A  later  writer 
puts  in  rigid  virginity,  the  requirement  of  his  day,  and 
neither  knows  nor  cares  for  the  resulting  discrepancy.  It 
may  be  observed,  in  cormection  with  Miss  Weston's  theory 
of  Eastern  influence,  that  Eastern  asceticism  generally  sup- 
poses a  preceding  married  state.^ 


XI 

There  are  so  many  miracles  of  one  kind  or  another  in 
medieval  romance  that  one  ceases  to  pay  much  attention  to 
their  details.  It  should,  however,  be  noted  how  close  is  the 
correspondence  between  the  miracles  ascribed  to  the  Grail 
and  those  which  were  brought  to  the  support  of  transub- 
stantiation.  St.  Augustine  defined  a  sacrament  or  mystery 
as  that  in  which  one  thing  is  seen,  another  known  (aliud 
videtur,  aliud  intelligitur),  and  it  would  be  hard  to  better 
the   definition.      But   when   controversy  is  raging,  human 

1  "No  Celtic  tale  I  have  examined  with  a  view  to  throwing  light 
upon  the  Grail  romances  insists  upon  this  idea,  but  some  version, 
now  lost,  may  possibly  have  done  so.  Celtic  tradition  gave  the 
romance  writers  of  the  Middle  Ages  material  and  form  for  the  pic- 
ture of  human  love;  it  may  also  have  given  them  a  hint  for  the  opposing 
idea  of  chastity." —  Studies  on  the  Legend  of  the  H.  G.,  p.  247. 

'^  Cf.  Hastings  Enc,  Art.  Celibacy. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  75 

nature  loses  patience  and  asks  for  a  sign.  There  is  always  a 
desire  to  finish  up  the  opposition.  Therefore  we  find  that 
after  the  Berengarian  controversy  accounts  of  eucharistic 
miracles  multiplied.^ 

These  miracles  fall  into  distinct  groups.  The  most  com- 
mon is  that  of  bleeding  host,  or  the  manifestation  of  real 
flesh  on  the  altar.  A  doubter,  priest  or  layman,  a  sacrile- 
gious Jew,  a  devout  man  craving  a  special  favor  of  God,  finds 
the  host  bleeding.  Fecamp  has  such  a  story,  Brussels  cele- 
brated the  Feast  of  the  Bleeding  Host  (in  this  case  a  Jewish 
sacrilege  is  involved),  and  the  miracle  of  Bolsena  is  unfor- 
gotten  because  of  Raphael's  treatment  of  it  in  the  Vatican 
stanze.  Other  cases  are  recounted  by  Csesarius  of  Heister- 
bach.2  Giraldus  Cambrensis  tells  of  flesh  made  visible.' 
This  particular  miracle  is  continually  implied  in  the  Grail 
stories  by  the  presence  of  the  lance  which  wounded  the  side 
of  Christ  and  from  which  the  blood  drips  into  the  chalice. 
In  the  Queste  an  angel  acolyte  holds  the  lance  over  the  cup, 
then  Joseph  takes  the  lance,  covers  the  Grail  with  a  cloth, 
and  begins  "as  it  were  the  sacrament  of  the  mass."*  In 
the  Perlesvaus  Gawain,  before  the  Grail,  sees  three  drops  of 
blood  fall  on  the  altar. 

^  Cf.  Dom  Leclercq,  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Host.  V 

2  Dialogus  Miraculorum,  Bk.  IX. 

'  Gemma  Ecclesiastica,  I:  xi. 

*  The  piercing  of  the  host  with  a  small  lance  has  a  place  in  Greek 
ritual;  cf.  Peebles,  Legend  of  Longinus,  pp.  62  ff.  The  same  symbolic 
bleeding  of  the  host  into  the  chalice  is  impUed  in  this  verse  of  Hilde- 
bert  of  Lavardin: 

Ista  sacramenta  modio  vario  ponxmtur  in  ara; 
Oblati  panis  dextra  tenet  calicem, 
In  cruce  pendentis  quoniam  latus  Omnipotentis 
Dextrum  sanguineam  vulnere  fudit  aquam. 
Sic  super  altare  litat  hoc  memorando  sacerdos 
Hostia  sicque  jugis  scelera  nostra  lavat. 

—  Vers\is  de  Mysterio  Missoe,  Migne,  CLXXI:  1180. 


76  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

Of  course  miracles  of  this  type  tend  to  become  confused 
with  the  special  cult  of  the  holy  blood  {Saint  Sang),  which  is 
thereby  brought  directly  into  association  with  the  conse- 
cration of  the  mass  and  the  literal  transformation  of  the 
wme  into  blood.  Fecamp  claimed  not  only  a  miracle  of  the 
bleeding  host  type  but  also  the  possession  of  a  portion  of 
the  dried  and  clotted  blood  from  the  wounds  of  Christ, 
concealed  by  Nicodemus  in  his  glove.^  But  it  must  be 
said  that  early  pictures  illustrating  the  Saint  Sang  cult 
depict  the  blood  of  Christ  flowing  as  a  fountain  opened  for 
sin  and  for  uncleanness  rather  than  as  the  source  of  a  life- 
giving  drink.2  The  sensitive  soul  of  Hugh  of  St.  Victor 
shrank  from  these  crude  aids  to  faith  though  he  did  not 
deny  them.^ 

To  another  class  of  these  miracles  belongs  the  appearance 
of  a  lamb  or  of  a  child  on  the  altar,  or  of  the  Virgin  holding 
the  Christ  child.  Paschasius  Radbertus  (d.  860),  already 
mentioned  ^  as  an  early  champion  of  substantial  transfor- 
mation of  the  host,  records  the  experience  of  one  Plecgils, 
who  longing  to  be  shown  the  exact  nature  of  the  sacramental 
presence  of  Christ,  not  from  lack  of  faith,  but  from  piety 
of  soul,  found  his  prayer  granted.  At  the  mass  the  venerable 
priest  lifted  his  face  and  saw  the  Son  of  the  Father  as  the 
infant  whom  Simeon  was  permitted  to  hold  in  his  arms. 
Plecgils  took  the  child  into  his  own  arms,  which  were  trem- 
bling, and  pressed  his  breast  against  the  breast  of  Christ. 
He  gave  a  kiss  to  God  and  pressed  his  lips  against  those  of 

^  Some  reminiscence  of  this  relic  occurs  in  the  Perlesvaus  (XVIII:  iv), 
for  we  are  told  that  Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  caused  some  of  the  blood 
of  Christ  to  be  sealed  in  the  boss  of  Perceval's  shield. 

*  Cf.  Mile,  L'art  religieux  de  la  fin  du  moyen  dge  en  France,  II:  pt.  v.V 
^  "In  specie  carnis  et  sanguinis  non  sumitur,  ne  humanus  animus 

abhorreret,  et  sensus  sibi  insohta  expavescerat,  ut  quando,  orante  beato 
Gregorio,  digitus  auricularis  cruentatus  sanguine  in  cahce  inventus 
ac  ostensus."  —  Speculum  Ecclesioe,  Migne,  CLXXVII:  362. 

*  p.  15. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  77 

Christ.  These  things  done,  he  restored  the  glorious  members 
of  the  Son  of  God  to  the  altar  and  filled  the  holy  table  with 
the  heavenly  food  of  Christ.^  Similar  instances  are  recorded 
by  Durandus  ^  and  in  the  life  of  St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln.^  Giral- 
dus  Cambrensis  speaks  of  a  lamb  or  of  a  child  in  the  hands 
of  the  officiating  priest.*  A  chronicler  of  Glastonbury 
gravely  states  that  Arthur  was  present  at  one  such  miracle.^ 
This  particular  kind  of  miracle  is  frequently  mentioned 
in  the  Grail  romances.  It  occurs  in  coimection  with  the 
appearance  of  the  Grail  itself  and  also  at  the  elevation  of 
the  host  where  no  special  mention  of  the  Grail  is  made.® 
It  is  the  manifestation  which  particularly  impressed  Ten- 
nyson : 

the  fiery  face  as  of  a  child 
That  smote  itself  into  the  bread  and  went. 

In  the  Gr.  St.  Graal  at  the  communion  administered  by 
angels  the  host  seemed  to  enter  each  mouth  as  a  child  com- 
plete in  form.  In  the  Queste  Galahad  sees  a  host  put  into 
the  Grail  and  at  the  elevation  the  figure  of  a  child  descends 
from  heaven,  and  all  saw  that  the  bread  had  the  form  of 
"dome  carnel."  In  Perlesvaus  it  is  Gawain  who  is  favored, 
and  it  seems  to  him  that  in  the  midst  of  the  Grail  he  sees 
the  figure  of  a  child.'' 

A  far  less  significant  marvel,  but  one  worth  noting  in 

^  De  cor  pore  et  sanguine  Domini,  Migne,  CXX:  1319,  1320. 

2  Liber  de  corpore  et  sanguine  Christi,  VIII:  xxviii.  Migne,  CXLIX: 
1418. 

3  Migne,  CLIII:  1036. 

*  Gemma  Ecclesiastica,  I:  xi.  A  figure  in  a  MS.  in  the  Bibliotheque 
Nationale  shows  the  miracle.  Vide  Rohault  de  Fleury,  op.  dt.,  plate 
XXII.     Illustration,  p.  63. 

5  John  of  Glastonbury,  ed.  Hearne,  I:  79.     Vide  App.,  p.  126. 

^  In  Perlesvaus  (I:  vi)  Arthur  attends  mass  in  St.  Augustine's  chapel, 
where  he  sees  the  Virgin  offer  her  chUd  to  the  priest  who  places  Him 
on  the  altar  and  goes  on  with  the  mass. 

7  VI:  xix. 


78  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

connection  with  all  the  rest,  is  the  luminosity  sometimes 
attributed  to  the  host.  Csesarius  of  Heisterbach  ^  tells  of  a 
holy  virgin  who,  standing  behind  the  priest  at  the  elevation, 
saw  the  host  in  gleaming  light  as  it  were  of  crystal  pene- 
trated with  the  rays  of  the  sun.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  tells 
of  a  woman  who  by  accident  caught  a  fragment  of  the  host 
in  the  hood  of  her  cloak.  Waking  in  the  night  she  saw  a 
luminous  spot  in  the  garment,  a  phenomenon  also  visible  to 
her  husband.  This  happened  for  three  nights,  when  inves- 
tigation revealed  the  host  which  left  a  spot  of  blood  on  the 
place  it  had  occupied.^  It  will  be  remembered  that  in 
Crestien  the  Grail  shines  and  puts  out  the  light  of  the  candles 
as  the  sun  does  that  of  the  stars,  and  that  de  Borron '  speaks 
of  the  great  light  which  streams  from  the  holy  vessel  car- 
ried by  Christ.  In  Wauchier  Perceval  sees  the  great  light 
in  the  forest  made  by  the  passing  of  the  Grail,  and  in  Per- 
lesvaus  "*  the  flame  of  the  Holy  Spirit  descends  each  day  on 
the  Grail. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  eucharistic  miracles 
is  that  called  by  Male  the  Christ  of  St.  Gregory.^  This 
concerns  a  vision  said  to  have  been  vouchsafed  to  St. 
Gregory  as  he  celebrated  mass  in  a  chapel  of  the  church 
of  Santa  Croce  in  Gerusalemme  in  Rome.  The  story  is 
a  shaky  one,  not  found,  according  to  Male,  even  in  the 
Legenda  Aurea.  The  pictures  of  it  show  St.  Gregory  before 
the  altar  and  above  it  a  figure  of  Christ  either  halfway 
in  His  tomb,  or  upright  with  a  cross  behind  Him.  He 
is  thorn-crowned,  and  sometimes  blood  flows  from  His 
wounds  into  the  chalice.  This  figure  of  Christ,  alone,  or 
with  supporting  angels,  was  later  immensely  popular,  be- 
cause an  indulgence  was  supposed  to  have  been  granted  to 
St.  Gregory  to  be  bestowed  on  those  who  would  contemplate 

^  Op.  cit.,  IX:  xxxiii,  xxxiv.  *  VI:  xiv. 

2  Gemma,  I:  xi.  *  Op.  cit.,  II,  pt.  iv. 

»  Metr.  Jos.,  U.  718  flf. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  79 

the  suffering  Christ  of  his  vision.  This  indulgence  accounts 
for  the  numerous  instances  of  this  Christ  of  St.  Gregory  in 
art;  it  is  an  especial  favorite  as  the  central  figure  of  a  pre- 
della.  But  earlier  than  any  date  given  by  Male  for  a  pic- 
ture of  the  figure  we  find  it  coimected  with  the  Grail.  In 
Gr.  St.  Graal  Josephe,  looking  into  the  ark  of  the  Grail,  saw 
a  man  crucified  on  the  cross  which  was  held  by  angels,  while 
the  nails  which  another  angel  had  held  were  in  his  feet  and 
hands.  The  lance  which  had  been  carried  by  three  angels 
was  in  the  side  of  the  crucified  man  and  from  it  flowed  a 
stream  which  was  neither  of  blood  nor  of  water  but  of  the 
two  mingled.^  In  the  Queste  a  figure  rises  from  the  Grail 
after  mass,  a  man  who  had  blood-stained  hands  and  feet 
and  body.'  In  Perlesvaus^  Gawain  looks  up  and  "it 
seemeth  him  to  be  the  Greal  all  in  flesh,  and  he  seeth  above, 
as  him  thinketh,  a  King  crowned,  nailed  upon  the  Rood  and 
the  spear  was  still  fast  in  His  side."  ^ 

An  entirely  different  group  of  miracles  involves  the  rev- 
erence due  the  holy  mysteries.  The  doctrine  of  transub- 
stantiation  and  the  consequent  emphasis  on  the  need  of 
celibate  purity  on  the  part  of  the  celebrating  priest  were 
illustrated  by  miracles  in  which  the  unworthy  priest,  pre- 
suming to  say  mass,  finds  a  blast  of  wind  overturning  a 
chaUce  or  the  host  snatched  from  his  hands.  Such  a  miracle 
is  recorded  by  Giraldus  Cambrensis.  A  priest  took  advan- 
tage of  the  festivities  of  Christmas  to  complete  an  intrigue, 
going  straight  from  it  to  celebrate  the  three  masses  of  Christ- 
mas. To  his  dismay  he  found  that  at  the  first  one  the  host 
vanished  at  the  elevation.  He  pretended  to  complete  the 
mass,  but  when  the  same  thing  happened  at  his  other  two 
masses  he  confessed  his  sin.    After  a  long  penance  he  was 

1  Vide  App.  127  2  Vide  App.  127 

'  VI:  XX.     Fide  App.  127 

*  Tr.  Evans.  Cf.  Gorres,  Die  Christliche  Mystik,  II:  107  f.  for  an 
account  of  this  vision  as  seen  by  several  persons  at  Douay. 


80  THE   MYSTIC   VISION    IN 

allowed  to  resume  his  priestly  functions,  and  lo,  at  his  first 
consecration  he  found  he  had  four  hosts  instead  of  one.* 
Another  story  with  a  similar  moral  is  related  by  Giraldus.^ 

These  miracles  have  their  parallels  in  the  Grail  legends. 
In  Gr.  St.  Graal  Nasciens  is  blinded  for  daring  to  lift  the  cover 
of  the  Grail  and  see  what  no  mortal  eyes  ought  to  behold. 
In  the  Queste  Lancelot,  at  mass  where  the  Grail  is,  sees  that 
at  the  elevation  the  priest  is  overcome  by  the  weight  of  the 
host.  Lancelot  rashly  proffers  aid  and  is  struck  dumb  by 
a  fiery  wind.^ 

The  beneficent  effects  of  the  Grail  may  be  classed  with 
the  miracles.  The  Grail  was  agreeable  to  all  who  saw  it, 
and  the  devil  may  not  lead  any  man  astray  on  the  day  he 
sees  it.*    It  separates  the  good  from  the  bad.    It  supports 

^  Spec.  Eg.,  IV:  xxvii. 

2  Gemma  Ec,  II:  xvi.  This  is  short  and  deserves  to  be  quoted  in 
the  original.  "Item  magnus  BasiUus  quotiens  corpus  dominicum 
consecrabat,  columba  sacramentum  dominici  corporis  continens,  quae 
super  altare  perpendit,  ipsa  conversionis  hora  se  ter  in  circuitu  movere 
solebat.  Quadam  autem  die,  ipso  consecrante,  eamque  non  moveri 
ut  solet  intuente  secum  admirari  et  contristari.  Statim  autem  in  spiritu 
vidit  diaconum,  ei  ad  altare  ministrantem,  in  mulierem  quandam  in 
ipso  presbyterio  petulanter  oculos  injecisse.  Quo  remoto,  officioque 
suspenso,  mulieribus  quoque  abinde  remotis,  Sancti  Spiritus  adventum 
per  columbse  motum,  ut  solet,  vir  sanctus  advertit."  Vide  illustration, 
p.  62. 

'  These,  of  course,  recall  incidents  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  it 
is  interesting  to  find  Giraldus  {Gemma  Ec,  I:  li)  using  the  latter  to 
illustrate  the  reverence  due  corpus  domini.  "Item,  si  Oza,  quia  mamma 
extenderat  ad  archam  figuralem  ne  declineret  bobus  recalcitrantibus 
a  Domino  ad  mortem  percussus  est,  quanto  magis  percuti  timeat  a 
Domino  qui  indigne  veram  archam,  scilicet  corpus  Domini,  conficit 
vel  consumit.  lUe  tamen  ex  debito  officio,  quia  de  Levi  erat  et  sacerdos, 
ad  sublevandum  archam,  sed  indigne;  tradunt  enim  Hebraei,  quia 
nocte  prsecedente  concuberant  cum  uxore.  Quanto  magis  autem  puni- 
entur  accidentes  ad  corpus  Christi  concubinarium  vel  meretricum  ne 
enormioris  immunditise  mentio  fiat,  concubitores." 

*  Wauchier. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  81 

Joseph  in  prison  and  feeds  his  starving  followers.     At  a 
banquet  it  serves  the  company  with  such  food  as  each 
V    prefers. 

^  Some  commentators  have  considered  this  property  of 
producing  food  a  hopelessly  heathen  survival,  totally  in- 
consistent with  any  feature  of  the  eucharist.  But  so  far 
from  this  being  the  case  it  is  quite  possible  that  this  prop- 
erty of  the  magic  vessel  is  precisely  the  one  which  recom- 
mended the  story  to  those  who  combined  it  with  that  of 
Joseph  of  Arimathea.  There  is  no  more  common  figure  of 
the  eucharist  than  the  miraculously  produced  manna. 
First  used  in  the  discourse  of  Christ  Himself,  ^  it  is  found  in 
all  Christian  literature,  and  in  Perlesvaus  we  are  told  that 
the  manna  fed  each  man  with  that  which  he  most  desired.^ 
The  catacomb  representations  of  the  eucharist  are  also 
connected  with  the  miraculous  increase  of  food  and  drink 
—  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes  and  the  miracle  of 
Cana.'  Moreover,  the  miracle  of  sustaining  life  on  the  host 
alone  is  recorded  in  the  life  of  many  saints.^ 

These  beneficent  effects  of  the  Grail  are  allegorical  expres- 
sions of  the  numerous  gifts  and  graces  of  the  eucharist, 
which  not  only  preserved  body  and  soul  to  everlasting  life, 
but  was  a  medicine  in  sickness  and  a  defence  against  all 
wiles  of  enemies,  visible  and  invisible. 

1  St.  John.,  VI:  49,  50. 

^  XVIII:  XV.  "n  les  mist  XL  anz  el  desert  ou  onques  dras  ne  lor 
porri,  et  il  lor  enveoit  la  mainne  del  ciel  qui  lor  servoit  quanqu'il  voulo- 
ient  boivre  ne  mangier."  Cf.  Algerus,  De  Sacramento,  I:  xv,  Migne, 
CLXXX:  786. 

*  Vide  illustration,  p.  63. 

*  Cf.  Caesarius  of  Heisterbach,  op.  cit.,  IX:  xlvi. 


82  THE   MYSTIC    VISION   IN 

XII 

Is  this  marked  resemblance  between  the  characteristics 
of  the  Grail  and  its  miracles  and  those  of  transubstan- 
tiation  accidental?  Or  is  it  rather  that  the  point  to  be 
demonstrated  is  one  and  the  same,  namely  the  literal  and 
miraculous  presence  of  God  on  the  altar?  All  these 
miracles  are  connected  with  the  vision  of  God  in  the  eucha- 
rist,  and  their  object  is  to  give  aid  and  comfort  to  those 
who  need  sight  to  sustain  their  faith.  They  are  visions,  it 
is  true,  and  signs  of  the  favorable  mercy  of  God.  But  more 
blessed  than  even  the  witnesses  of  a  transubstantiation 
miracle  are  those  who  like  Catherine  of  Siena  taste  and  see 
the  whole  mystery  of  the  Trinity  in  their  eucharistic 
rapture. 

As  we  should  expect,  it  is  in  the  Queste  that  this  spirit- 
ualized vision  is  most  clearly  expressed.  We  find  there  both 
the  agony  of  the  knight  who  fails  to  attain  it,  and  the  rap- 
ture of  him  to  whom  it  is  granted.  Bohort,  whose  quest  of 
the  Grail  is  hindered  by  his  one  sin  against  purity,  seeks 
consolation  from  a  hermit  who  hears  his  confession,  absolves 
him,  and  prepares  to  administer  the  eucharist  to  him. 
After  the  consecration  he  takes  corpus  domini  and  signs 
Bohort  to  come  forward.  And  when  he  had  kneeled  before 
him,  the  good  man  said,  "Bohort,  do  you  see  what  I  hold?" 
"Sir,"  said  he,  "I  see  that  you  hold  my  Saviour  and  my 
redemption  in  form  of  bread,  and  in  such  fashion  have  I 
ever  seen  it.  But  my  eyes  are  so  earthly  that  they  cannot 
discern  spiritual  things,  nor  do  they  let  me  see  otherwise 
than  to  deprive  me  of  the  sight  of  the  true  form.  For  I 
have  never  doubted  that  it  is  truly  flesh  and  truly  man  and 
God."  And  he  commenced  to  weep  bitterly.  There  is  no 
flaw  in  his  faith,  the  hermit  does  not  refuse  him  the  com- 
munion, but  the  mystic  vision  of  God  in  the  eucharist  is 
withheld  from  him. 


THE  LEGEND  OF  THE  GRAIL  83 

Very  different  is  the  experience  of  Galahad.  He  has  been 
vouchsafed  the  eucharistic  miracles,  has  seen  the  child  on 
the  altar  and  the  Christ  of  St.  Gregory,  but  a  greater  thing 
is  in  store  for  him,  the  full  revelation  of  the  Grail.  Joseph 
of  Arimathea  appears  and  celebrates  a  mass.  At  the  con- 
secration (el  secre  de  la  messe)  he  lifts  the  paten  from  the 
holy  vessel  and  bids  Galahad  look  within.  Galahad  comes 
forward,  just  as  Bohort  had  done,  but  looking  within  he 
trembles  as  does  mortal  flesh  when  it  beholds  spiritual 
things  —  "esperitels  choses,"  the  very  words  used  by  Bohort 
to  describe  that  which  was  hidden  from  him.  Then  Galahad 
stretched  his  hands  to  heaven  and  said:  "Lord,  I  thank 
Thee  that  Thou  hast  granted  my  wish.  For  now  I  see 
plainly  that  which  tongue  cannot  speak  nor  heart  think. 
Thou  hast  granted  me  to  see  what  I  have  so  long  desired." 

After  this  he,  like  Bohort,  meekly  and  gladly  receives  the 
Lord's  body.  But  where  Bohort  had  rested  on  faith  alone, 
to  Galahad  has  come  mystic  certainty  of  the  eucharistic 
presence  of  Christ  wrought  by  the  miracle  of  transubstan- 
tiation.  He  sees  the  marvels  of  the  Grail;  the  quest  is 
achieved.^ 

1  For  the  full  text  of  these  two  passages  in  the  Queste  see  App.,  p.  127. 
This  conception  of  the  Grail  as  the  symbol  of  the  miracle  of  transub- 
stantiation,  consummate  gift  of  divine  love,  is  found  in  a  German 
poem  published  in  Meisterlieder  der  Kolmarer  handschrift,  ed.  Bartsch, 
p.  592.  It  is  addressed  to  four  who  know  the  true  meaning  of  love,  — 
lady,  knight,  poet,  and  priest.  The  last  is  told  of  his  high  privilege  in 
being  permitted  to  hold  in  his  own  hands  the  Grail  of  the  love  of  the 
King  of  kings. 

Ach  priester,  wer  moht  tiberkomen 

die  zale  diner  hohen  wirde  gar: 

al  zifferie  kraft  moht  ez  niht  halp  besinnen  zwAr. 

Du  hast  vil  schone  an  dich  genomen 

ein  sidin  kleit,  dar  in  bris  ich  dich  eben, 

sit  dirz  der  hoechste  fiirst  von  himel  ze  6ren  hdt  gegeben. 

Wart  daz  duz  iht  beselwest  durch  daz  wunder, 


84      THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN  THE   LEGEND   OF  THE   GRAIL 

sit  got  <lf  dich  geworfen  h&t  besunder 

reines  lobes  z under, 

Id  brinnen  schiezen  dich  der  minnen  gr&l 

des  hcehsten  kiings  der  sich  Idt  schowen  in  dtner  hende  sal. 

For  this  and  other  references  to  the  use  of  the  word  "grail"  in 
German  poetry  I  am  indebted  to  Hertz,  Parzival,  p.  459.  The  infer- 
ences I  have  drawn  from  them  are  entirely  my  own. 

Since  this  chapter  went  to  press,  the  following  statement,  most 
interesting  in  this  connection,  came  to  my  notice.  According  to 
Peter  Calo,  his  earUest  biographer,  Aquinas,  before  receiving  the 
viaticum,  made  this  declaration: 

"  Si  major  scientia,  quam  fides  de  hoc  sacramento  in  hac  vita 
haberi  potest,  in  ilia  respondeo,  quod  vere  credo  et  pro  certo  scio, 
hunc  deum  verum  esse  et  hominem,  dei  patris  et  virginis  matris 
fihum  et  sic  credo  animo  et  confiteor  verbo." 

For  this  citation  from  Calo's  Vita,  (put  forth  c.  1300  and  included 
in  Pontes  Vitce  S.  ThomoB  Aquinatis,  ed.  Priimmer),  I  am  indebted  to 
the  painstaking  courtesy  of  the  Rev.  D.  J.  Kennedy,  O.  P.,  Domini- 
can House  of  Studies,  Washington,  D.  C. 


THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN   THE  DIVINE  COMEDY 

Jesu,  quern  velatum  nunc  aspicio, 
Oro,  fiat  illud  quod  tarn  sitio 
Ut,  te  revelata  cernens  facie, 
Visa  sim  beatus  tuae  gloriae. 

—  Thomas  Aquinas 


THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN   THE   DIVINE  COMEDY 

When  we  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  eucharistic 
injBuence  in  the  Divine  Comedy  we  are  conscious  of  a  very 
different  atmosphere  from  that  of  the  Grail  romances,  and 
the  difference  is  not  merely  a  matter  of  literary  expression, 
but  also  of  devotional  mood.  The  romantic  treatment  is 
not  only  chronologically  much  nearer  the  first  emphatically 
material  statements  of  transubstantiation,  but  it  represents 
the  secular  reaction  to  them;  it  records  popular  piety  with 
its  crudely  literal  acceptance  of  the  miracle  and  its  occa- 
sional glimpse  of  the  spiritual  thing.  The  romance  writers, 
though  they  might  possess  a  saving  acquaintance  with  the 
teaching  of  the  church,  cannot  be  supposed  to  have  either 
known  or  cared  much  about  the  arguments  which  supported 
any  article  of  faith.  If  we  find  theological  propositions  here 
and  there  we  are  likely  to  consider  them  traces  of  a  monkish 
original,  or  to  suspect  that  they  were  inserted  at  the  request 
of  an  ecclesiastical  patron. 

But  Dante  is  not  only  a  conscious  literary  artist,  accept- 
ing or  rejecting  material  as  it  is  or  is  not  adapted  to  his 
highly  organized  and  carefully  balanced  structure,  but  an 
expert  theologian  as  well,  incapable  of  treating  casually  or 
crudely  any  part  of  the  divine  science.  Moreover,  theolog- 
ical discourse  itself  had  undergone  changes  in  the  course  of 
a  century,  and  the  schoolmen,  by  formulating  and  empha- 
sizing the  distinction  between  substance  and  accidents,  had 
done  much  to  modify  the  startling  materialism  of  the  earlier 
statements  of  transubstantiation,  explaining  that  though  the 
"substance,"  or  reality,  of  the  consecrated  bread  and  wine 
was  that  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  yet  their  "acci- 


THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 


dents,"  or  characteristic  properties  —  taste,  smell,  color, 
and  the  like  —  remained.  From  Dante,  as  their  pupil,  we 
should  therefore  expect  a  more  spiritual  as  well  as  a  more 
carefully  organized  handling  of  eucharistic  teaching  than 
any  of  which  the  romancers  were  capable. 


II 

It  is,  indeed,  difficult  to  conceive  how  Dante  in  his  great 
epic  of  the  soul  in  its  relation  to  God  could  have  ignored  the 
eucharistic  doctrine  and  devotion  so  intimately  connected 
with  Christian  living,  albeit  we  should  expect  to  find  so 
spiritual  a  theme  veiled  under  one  of  the  "mystic  senses" 
of  the  allegory.  Though  the  subject  of  the  Divine  Comedy 
may  be  "the  state  of  souls  after  death,"  the  end  of  it  is 
"to  remove  those  living  in  this  life  from  the  state  of  misery 
and  lead  them  to  the  state  of  felicity,"  ^  and  with  this  end 
in  view  it  would  be  hardly  possible  for  him  to  omit  all  ref- 
erence to  the  sacramental  means  afforded  by  the  church  for 
reaching  the  goal. 

In  its  ultimate  form  this  state  of  felicity  is  neither  more 
nor  less  than  the  visio  Dei,  the  complete  illumination  of 
the  soul: 

Then  shall  be  seen  that  which  we  hold  by  faith, 
Not  demonstrated,  but  known  of  itself, 
Like  to  the  primal  truth  that  man  believes.'^ 

This  immediate  knowledge  of  God,  which  in  its  fulness 
comes  to  man  only  as  his  final  reward,  is  always  enjoyed  by 
the  angels: 

1  Ep.  to  Can  Grande. 

^  "Li  si  vedr^  cid  che  tenem  per  fede, 

Non  dimostrato,  ma  fia  per  s&  noto, 
A  guisa  del  ver  prime  che  Tuom  crede." 

Par.  II:  43-45. 


THE    DIVINE    COMEDY  89 

Every  essence  and  virtue  proceeds  from  the  primal  one  and  the 
lower  intelligences  receive  it  as  from  a  radiating  source,  and  throw 
the  rays  of  their  superior  upon  these  inferior,  after  the  fashion  of 


But  though  in  this  life  man  may  hope  only  for  partial  attain- 
ment of  knowledge,  though  his  mirrors  may  give  but  shadowy 
reflection,^  some  foretaste  of  the  state  of  felicity  is  always 
possible.  Whence,  then,  is  such  partial  knowledge,  where 
are  mirrors  to  be  found?  The  answer  is  given  at  length  in 
the  work  of  Dionysius,  from  which  Dante  derived  his  ideas 
of  angelic  illumination.^  As  has  been  said,  Dionysius  fol- 
lows his  treatise  on  the  angelic  ranks  by  one  on  the  church 
and  its  orders,  showing  that  in  the  church  are  to  be  found 
the  means  whereby  man  attains  to  some  share  in  this  illu- 
mination and  that  these  means  are  identical  with  the  sacra- 
ments. In  other  words,  the  sacraments  are  the  clouded 
mirrors  which  so  modify  the  intensity  of  the  divine  splendor 
that  man  may  look  thereon  and  still  live. 


Ill 

But  just  because  they  are  at  best  but  clouded  mirrors, 
means  adapted  to  powers  as  yet  imperfect,  sacraments 
belong  to  this  life,  they  are  part  of  the  equipment  of  the 
church  on  earth,^  and  Dante  could  treat  of  them  only  in 

^  Ej).  to  Can  Grande. 

2  "Videmus  nunc  per  speculum  in  enigmate:  tunc  autem  facie  ad 
faciem:  nunc  cognosco  ex  parte:  tunc  autem  cognoscam  sicut  et 
cognitus  sum."     1.  Cor.  xiii:  12. 

^  Ej).  to  Can  Grande. 

*  "Quia  ergo  hoc  Sacramento  non  est  in  aeternum  mors  Christi 
annuntianda,  sed  tantum  donee  veniat,  qui  postea  nullis  mysteriis 
egebimus,  constat  illud  transitorium  esse  signum  et  temporale,  quo 
tantum  egemus  nunc,  dum  videmus  per  speculum  et  in  enigmate."  — 
Algerus,  De  Sacramento  1:  VIII,  Migne,  CLXXX:  764. 


90  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

that  part  of  the  Divine  Comedy  wherein  the  church  mihtant, 
so  to  speak,  has  jurisdiction  —  the  Purgatory.  The  souls 
in  Hell  are  permanently  excommunicate,  and  those  in  Para- 
dise are  already  included  in  the  church  triumphant;  but 
those  who  are  in  process  of  purification  share  in  the  benefits 
of  the  ordinances  of  religion.  Every  reader  must  have  expe- 
rienced the  sensation  of  breathing  more  freely  in  the  Purga- 
tory, of  moving  within  the  limits  of  mortal  experience  and 
aspiration.  It  has  a  far  more  intimate  application  to  the 
spiritual  life  of  the  average  human  being,  conscious  of  the 
closeness  of  grandeur  to  the  dust,  than  either  the  dreary 
hoplessness  of  Hell  or  the  enraptured  bliss  of  Heaven.  The 
souls  there,  like  ourselves,  are  still  striving  to  leave  the  lower 
and  mount  upward,  still  burdened  with  shortcomings,  still 
needing  to  join  in  the  universal  human  cry,  "Miserere  mei, 
Domine!"  The  essential  difference  between  their  state  and 
ours  is,  of  course,  their  certainty  of  ultimate  salvation,  a 
certainty  never  attained  until  death  has  ended  man's  pro- 
bation; but  this  difference  is  only  borne  in  on  us  now  and 
again,  notably  in  the  eleventh  canto  where  the  souls  explain 
that  though  they  still  say,  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation," 
the  prayer  is  for  the  living,  they  themselves  need  it  no 
longer.^  But  though  free  from  temptation,  the  souls  in 
Purgatory  have  but  partial  knowledge  of  God;  they  must 
still  content  themselves  with  seeing  in  a  glass  darkly,  still 
avail  themselves  of  the  means  of  grace.  It  is  noticeable  that 
Dante  introduces  all  through  the  Purgatory  allusions  more 
or  less  definite  to  the  scriptural  phrases,  the  hymns,  the 
liturgy  and  sacraments  which  are  the  outward  expression 
of  the  spiritual  life.^ 

1  XI:  22-24. 

^  In  the  Purgatory  these  vary  in  character,  sounding  the  whole 
gamut  of  Christian  experience:  those  in  the  Paradise  (as  in  III:  121, 
122;  VII:  1-3,  XXIII:  128,  XXIV:  113,  XXV:  98)  express  faith, 
trust,  and,  above  all,  praise. 


THE   DIVINE   COMEDY  91 

The  psalm  of  Israel's  deliverance  is  the  song  of  those 
crossing  the  sea  to  begin  the  work  of  making  themselves 
fair/  and  in  accordance  with  the  religious  experience  of 
the  ages  it  is  also  in  the  words  of  the  psalms  that  abasement/ 
holy  joy/  and  trust  find  expression.^  Hymns  from  the 
Breviary  sound  in  the  flowery  valley  ^  and  in  the  last  circle.^ 
The  successful  passage  through  the  gate  of  Purgatory  is 
marked,  as  are  earthly  conquests,  by  Te  Deum  laudamus^ 
and  the  triumph  of  Purgatory  in  the  release  of  a  soul  to  its 
full  attainment  of  the  benefits  of  the  Incarnation  can  find 
no  more  fitting  utterance  than  that  which  hailed  the  first 
tidings  of  the  Word  made  flesh,  Gloria  in  excelsis  Deo.^ 

Nor  is  the  sacramental  system  unnoticed.  Though  em- 
braced by  the  arms  of  infinite  love,  Manfred  must  pay  the 
penalty  of  dying  without  the  last  sacraments  and  spend 
thirty  times  the  period  of  his  contumacy  in  Antepurgatory 
before  his  ascent  to  purification  may  begin.^  At  the  gate  of 
Purgatory  itself  there  is  an  angel,  guardian  of  the  entrance 
as  far  as  the  narrative  goes,  but  standmg  also  for  the  eccle- 
siastical hierarchy  whose  representative  may,  by  the  power 
of  the  keys,  bind  and  loose.  Next  come  the  three  steps 
signifying  the  contrition,  confession,  and  satisfaction  with- 
out which  no  one  can  attain  the  purity  of  heart  necessary 
for  either  sacramental  union  here  or  for  the  ultimate  oneness 
with  God.  The  seven  P's  marked  by  the  angel  on  Dante's 
forehead,  which  must  be  erased  one  by  one  at  the  end  of 
each  toilsome  climb,  stand  not  only  for  the  seven  mortal 
sins  but  also  for  the  penance  imposed,  which  must  be  accom- 
plished before  further  sacramental  grace  may  be  received.^" 

But  it  is  in  that  part  of  the  Purgatory  which  Dante  has 

1  Purg.  II:  46.  "  lb.  XXV:  121. 

2  lb.  XIX:  73.  ^  lb.  IX:  140. 

3  76.  XXVIII:  80.  »  76.  XX:  136. 

*  76.  XXX:  83,  84.  »  76.  Ill:  136-141. 

^  76.  VIII:  13.  1"  76.  IX:  76  ff. 


92  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

set  in  the  Earthly  Paradise  that  we  should  expect  the  most 
complete  figuiing  of  the  system,  for  sacraments  are  weapons 
of  the  church  militant,  and  the  Earthly  Paradise,  the  lit- 
eral Eden,  which  was  supposed  to  exist  somewhere  in  the 
far  East,  is  ver\^  commonly  considered  as  a  symbol  of  the 
church.  The  river  issuing  from  it  is  taken  by  Isidor  of 
Se\'ille  to  symbolize  baptism  ^  and  the  fruit  of  its  tree  of 
life,  according  to  Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  is  a  type  of  the 
eucharist.'-  And  it  is  there,  in  fact,  that  he  witnesses  a 
procession,  the  features  and  implications  of  which  bear 
marked  resemblance  to  the  procession  of  Corpus  Christi 
day,  which  at  the  time  the  Purgatory  was  written,  had  but 
lately  been  advanced  from  a  matter  of  tradition  and  cus- 
tom to  one  of  official  authorization.  There,  too,  he  is  sub- 
merged in  a  flowing  river  that  his  purification  may  be 
effected. 

IV 

Marked  developments  in  eucharistic  worship  took  place 
between  the  Lateran  Council  of  1215  and  the  early  four- 
teenth centuiy,  and  these  developments  undoubtedly  had 
their  effect  on  certain  details  in  Dante's  treatment  of  the 
matter.  The  council's  final  and  authoritative  statement  of 
eucharistic  doctrine  had  the  effect  of  stimulating  the  elab- 
oration of  eucharistic  ritual  which  had  been  growing  up 
during  the  preceding  century,  especially  that  which  centred 
in  the  actual  moment  of  consecration  and  the  elevation  of 
the  host  announced  by  the  sacring  bell.  But  one  honor  to 
the   eucharist   was   lacking  —  a    day   of  festal  celebration 

^  Mysticorum  Expositiones  Sacramentorum,  seu  Qucestiones  in  tetus 
Testamentum.  In  Genesin,  Cap.  Ill:  2,  Migne,  LXXXIIl:  216.  For 
text  ride  App.  p.  136.  Cf.  the  source  of  the  waters  of  the  Earthly 
Paradise,  Purg.  XXVIII:  124  ff.,  and  the  use  made  of  these  waters, 
lb.  XXXI:   91-102. 

*  Vide  ut  inf.,  p.  114. 


THE    DIVINE    COMEDY  93 

specially  devoted  to  it.  Maunday  Thursday,  the  day  of  its 
institution,  though  called  both  Ccena  Domini  and  Natalis 
Calicis,  was  too  deeply  shadowed  by  Christ's  passion  to  be 
a  fitting  occasion  for  rejoicing. 

It  was  in  the  Low  Countries  that  the  first  attempt  to 
meet  this  need  was  made.  Julianna,  prioress  of  Mont- 
Corneillon  near  Li^ge,  had  a  vision  in  which  she  saw  the  full 
moon  disfigured  by  a  black  spot.  This  she  interpreted  as 
meaning  that  the  black  spot  on  the  church  calendar  was  the 
want  of  a  day  devoted  to  the  honor  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar.  The  idea  became  popular  in  Liege,  and  the  bishop, 
Robert  de  Tarote,  authorized  the  local  celebration  of  the 
festival.  In  1261  the  archdeacon  of  Liege,  Jacob  Pantaleon, 
became  Pope  under  the  title  of  Urban  IV.  He  wished  to 
give  full  sanction  to  the  new  feast,  but  hesitated  about  the 
final  step,  it  is  said,  until  his  decision  was  quickened  by  a 
miracle  of  the  bleeding  host,  known  as  the  miracle  of  Bol- 
sena.  In  1264  he  issued  the  bull  Transiturus,  establishing 
the  festival  of  Corpus  Christi,  to  be  held  on  the  Thursday 
succeeding  Trinity  Sunday.  The  bull  declared  the  object 
of  the  celebration  to  be  the  strengthening  and  exaltation  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  and  its  keynote  was  festivity.  Devout 
throngs  of  the  faithful  were  to  betake  themselves  to  the 
churches,  and  the  clergy  as  well  as  the  rejoicing  laity  were 
to  raise  the  song  of  praise.  With  heart  and  mouth  all  were 
to  hymn  the  joy  of  salvation.  Faith  was  bidden  to  sing 
psalms,  hope  to  dance  joyfully,  and  charity  to  exult.  Devo- 
tion was  to  add  its  plaudits,  the  choir  to  hold  jubilee,  purity 
to  rejoice.  Fulfilling  their  devout  purpose  worthily,  all 
should  unite  in  celebrating  the  solemnity  of  the  day.^ 

'  "Nos  itaque  ad  corroborationem  et  exaltationem  catholicas  fidei, 
digne  ac  rationabiliter  duximus  statuendum,  ut  de  tanto  Sacramento 
praeter  quotidianam  memoriam,  quam  de  ipso  facit  Ecclesia,  solemnior 
et  specialior  annuatim  memoria  celebretur,  certum  ad  hoc  designantes 
et  describentes  diem,  videlicet  feriam  quintam  proximam  post  octavam 


94  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

It  is  told  that  Urban  requested  both  Thomas  Aquinas  and 
Bonaventura  to  draw  up  an  ofl&ce  for  the  day.  When  the 
time  came  for  reading  them,  each  wished  the  other  to  begin. 
St.  Thomas  consented  to  be  first,  but  when  it  came  Bona- 
ventura's  turn  he  smiHngly  shook  from  the  loose  sleeve  of 
his  habit  a  shower  of  bits  of  paper.  He  had  realized  as  the 
reading  proceeded  that  there  could  be  no  question  of  choice 
and  so  had  spared  the  Pope  the  onus  of  decision. ^  And 
indeed  it  would  be  hard  to  conceive  of  an  improvement  on 
the  work  of  Aquinas  with  its  skilful  use  of  type  and  antitype, 
its  aptness  of  scriptural  adaptation,  and  its  superb  eucharistic 
hymns:  Pange  lingua,  Sacris  solemniis  junda  sunt  gaudia, 
Lauda  Sion,  Verhum  supernum  prodiens.  Part  of  this  last, 
0  salutaris  hostia,  is  perhaps  best  known  of  all  eucharistic 
hymns. 


Neither  in  this  office  nor  in  the  bull  of  Urban  is  there  any 
mention  of  the  procession  which  became  the  most  striking 
feature  of  the  celebration,  and  there  has  been  much  dispute 
and  uncertainty  as  to  just  when  it  was  instituted.  It  seems 
to  have  been  officially  authorized  only  at  the  council  of 
Vienne,  1311,  but  Roman  Catholic  writers  generally  agree 

Pentecostes,  ut  in  ipsa  quinta  feria  devotse  turbse  fidelium  propter  hoc 
ad  Ecclesias  affectuosae  concurrant,  et  tam  clerici,  quam  populi  gau- 
dentes,  in  cantica  laudum  surgant.  Tunc  enim  omnium  corda  et  vota, 
ora  et  labia,  hymnos  persolvant  Isetitise  salutaris;  tunc  psallat  fides; 
spes  tripudiet;  exultet  charitas;  devotio  plaudat;  jubilet  chorus; 
puritas  jucundetur.  Tvmc  singuli,  alacri  animo,  pronaque  voluntate 
conveniant  sua  studia  laudabQiter  exequendo,  tanti  festi  solemnitatem 
celebrantes.  Et  utinam  ad  Christi  servitium  sic  eius  fideles  ardor  in- 
flammet,  ut  per  hsec  et  alia  proficientibus  ipsis  meritorum  cumulis 
apud  eum,  qui  sese  dedit  pro  eis  in  pretium,  tribuitque  se  ipsis  in  pabu- 
lum, tandem  post  huius  vitse  decursum  eis  se  in  prsemium  largiatur."  — 
Bullarum  Romanum,  ed.Taurinensis,  III:  707. 

'  Cf .  Eugene  Cortet,  Essai  sur  les  fetes  religieuses,  1867. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  95 

that  this  authorization  was  rather  the  sanction  of  a  custom 
already  estabUshed  than  the  inauguration  of  a  new  one. 
According  to  Martene  contemporary  books  of  ritual  show 
that  the  procession  followed  very  closely  on  the  institution 
of  the  festival.^  Catalani  goes  further  and  declares  the 
consensus  of  opinion  is  that  Urban  was  the  "author"  of 
the  procession  as  well  as  of  the  bull.  His  first  argument  for 
this  opinion  is  the  intrinsic  one,  namely,  that  the  bull 
requires  a  measure  of  rejoicing,  "tripudatio,  exultatio  et 
jubilatio,"  which  being  entirely  out  of  keeping  with  the 
celebration  of  mass  in  church,  necessarily  implies  an  out- 
door procession,  and  he  contends,  moreover,  that  only  by 
the  transportation  of  the  most  holy  sacrament  through  the 
highways  could  be  illustrated  that  triumph  of  Christ  over 
the  perfidy  and  madness  of  heretics  which  Urban  declared 
to  be  one  object  of  the  festival.  In  the  second  place  he  con- 
siders the  conclusions  of  writers  who  have  made  a  special 
study  of  the  period  and  who  believe  almost  unanimously 
that  the  procession  coincided,  nearly  if  not  precisely,  with 
the  first  observation  of  the  day.  His  third  point  is  that  the 
procession  of  Corpus  Christi  day  was  an  elaboration  rather 
than  an  innovation.^    There  is  plenty  of  evidence  for  this. 

The  mediaeval  popes  were  accustomed  to  have  the  host 
carried  before  them  on  journeys  and  state  occasions,^  and 
the  viaticum  was  carried  to  the  sick  in  a  procession  with 
lights  and  bells.*  That  the  host  was  a  central  figure  in 
processions  of  intercession  appears  in  Geoffrey  of  Mon- 
mouth's account  of  the  Scottish  prelates  who  with  all  their 
clergy  in  attendance  came  out  to  beg  mercy  from  King 

1  Ec.  rit.  IV:  xxix. 

2  Pont.  Rom:  II:  311  ff.    For  text  see  App.  p.  128. 

'  Cf.  Catalani,  op.  cit.  II:  313;  Picart,  Ceremonies  et  coutumes 
religieuses,  Art.  Corpus  Christi. 

*  Cf.  Wilkins,  Consilia  Magnae  BritanniccB  et  HibernioB,  I:  623. 
Stone,  op.  cit.  I:  352  ff. 


96  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

Arthur,  bearing  the  rehcs  of  the  saints  and  the  sacraments 
of  the  church.^  This  practice  also  obtained  in  Provence.'^ 
A  similar  instance  in  the  romance  of  Perlesvaus  has  already 
been  noted .^  To  judge  from  their  records  the  custom  must 
have  been  favored  by  the  Normans,  and  Lanfranc,  as  be- 
came an  opponent  of  Berengar,  took  care  to  provide  for  so 
edifying  and  instructive  a  ceremony  in  England.  In  his 
Decreti  pro  ordine  S.  Benedidi  *  he  gives  elaborate  directions 
for  the  procession  on  Palm  Sunday.  The  green  things  were 
to  be  blessed  and  distributed,  the  palms  to  ecclesiastics  and 
persons  of  importance;  flowers  and  leaves  to  the  rest.  The 
procession  included  not  only  the  officiating  clergy  but  the 
monks,  the  boys  with  their  master,  and  the  friars.  They 
advanced,  two  by  two,  accompanied  by  banners,  crucifixes, 
lighted  candles,  censers,  and  two  subdeacons  carrying  texts 
of  the  gospels.  Singing  as  they  went,  they  left  the  church 
and  took  up  a  station  outside.  Two  priests  then  left  the 
procession  and  went  back  into  the  church  for  the  feretrum,  ^ 
which  had  been  prepared  by  the  same  priests  at  earliest 
dawn  and  in  which  the  body  of  Christ  was  hidden.  When 
they  returned  to  the  station  they  took  up  their  stand  on 
either  side  of  the  feretrum,  around  which  all  stood  in  reverent 
ranks,  the  children,  as  befitted  the  day,  being  placed  in  front. 
At  the  antiphon,  Hosanna,  filio  David,  benedidus  qui  venit 
in  nomine  Domini,  Hosanna  in  excelsis,  all  bowed  the  knee. 

^  "Convenerunt  omnes  Episcopi  miserandae  patriae,  cum  omni 
clero  sibi  subdito,  reliquias  sanctorum  et  ecclesiastica  sacramenta 
nudis  fsrentes  pedibus."  Historia  regum  Britannice  ed.  San  Marte, 
IX:  vi. 

^  "His  gestis,  episcopus  Tolosse  qui  erat  in  exercitu,  mandavit 
prseposito  ecclesiae  aliisque  clericis  ut  de  civitate  Tolosana  egreder- 
entur;  qui  statim  jussa  complentes,  nudibus  Pedibus  cum  corpore 
Christi  egressi  sunt  Tolosa." 

Petrus  Sarnensis,  Historia  Albigensium,  LV.    Migne,  CCXIII:  611. 

'  Vide  ut  sup.,  p.  29. 

^  Migne,  CL:  455  ff.     For  text  vide.  App.  p.  129. 

*  "Pyx  in  qua  ccena  Eucharistia  conditur."     Du  Cange. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  97 

Then  to  another  antiphon,  Ave,  rex  nosier,  the  bearers  of  the 
Jeretrum  took  up  their  burden,  and  the  procession  went  on 
through  the  city,  the  people  bending  the  knee  as  the  host 
passed  in  front  of  them.  This  custom  was  not  confined  to 
the  Normans.^  Also  in  various  places  on  Good  Friday  the 
host,  instead  of  a  crucifix,  was  interred  in  the  Easter  Sep- 
ulchre, from  which  it  was  carried  with  much  pomp  and 
ceremony  on  Easter  morning.^ 

Processions  centering  around  the  host  were,  then,  already 
established  by  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and, 
very  naturally,  were  early  adapted  to  the  Corpus  Christi 
celebration.  As  this  feature  gradually  became  the  charac- 
teristic part  of  the  ceremonies  of  the  day,  other  eucharistic 
processions  seem  to  have  been  largely  discontinued  in  its 
favor.  Civil  and  ecclesiastical  authorities  united  in  the 
celebration,  and  the  route  of  the  procession  was  often  a 
long  one.  The  bells  of  all  churches  in  front  of  which  it 
passed  were  rung  as  well  as  that  of  the  chief  church  of  the 
city  from  which  it  started.  The  streets  were  carefully  cleaned 
in  preparation  and  tapestries  were  hung  from  the  windows.^ 
As  in  the  earlier  processions  there  were  always  lights,  either 
candles,  in  huge  candlesticks,  or  lanterns.  Whether  directly 
from  the  association  with  Palm  Sunday,  or  indirectly  from 
the  very  ancient  custom  of  strewing  flowers  and  boughs  before 
a  conqueror,  flowers  became,  and  have  remained,  a  marked 
feature  of  the  procession.    The  houses  along  the  route  were 

1  Cf.  Migne,  LXXXV:  39 In. 

^  On  Easter  morning  the  two  oldest  priests  went  to  the  sepulchre 
"out  of  the  which  .  .  they  tooke  a  marvelous  beautiful  Image  of  our 
Saviour,  representing  the  resurrection,  with  a  crosse  in  his  hand,  in 
the  breast  whereof  was  enclosed  in  bright  christall  the  holy  Sacrament 
of  the  altar  through  which  christall  the  blessed  host  was  conspicuous 
to  the  behoulders."  —  Ancient  Monuments,  Rites  and  Customs  of  Durham, 
Surtees  Society  Publications,  XV:  10,  11.  Cf.  also  Stone,  op.  cit.  I: 
385  for  such  processions  at  Salisbury,  Hereford,  York  and  Canterbury. 

^  Cf.  Picart,  op.  cit. 


98  THE   MYSTIC    VISION   IN 

decorated  with  green  boughs,  and  sometimes,  as  at  Genzano 
in  the  Alban  hills,  the  flowers  were  woven  into  an  elaborate 
carpet  for  the  main  street. 

In  the  midst  of  the  procession  a  baldachino  was  carried; 
sometimes  the  bearers  were  priests,  sometimes  laymen,  but 
always  crowned  with  flowers.^  Underneath  this,  one  or  more 
of  the  officiating  ecclesiastics  bore  the  host,  while  before  it 
boys  with  garlands  on  their  heads  scattered  rose  leaves,  and 
members  of  guilds  and  the  populace  followed  all  carrying 
tapers.  Sometimes  the  little  St.  John  Baptist  was  the  im- 
mediate predecessor  of  the  canopy,  and  the  patron  saints 
of  the  city  and  its  trades  were  represented  by  persons  dressed 
in  appropriate  costumes. 

It  is  easy  to  understand  that  under  the  influence  of  the 
guilds  these  figures  increased  in  number  and  became  per- 
formers in  the  miracle  cycles.  ^  The  celebration  of  the  day 
tended  to  become  more  formal  and  elaborate,  and  culmi- 
nated in  the  Spanish  autos  sacramentales,  which  found  their 
greatest  exponent  in  Calderon.  Still,  religious  customs 
change  very  slowly;  there  is  not  much  difference  between 
the  ordinary  Corpus  Christi  processions  of  the  nineteenth 
century  and  those  described  in  Reformation  satire,  and  the 
latter  probably  included  much  that  came  unchanged  from 
the  beginnings  three  centuries  earlier.  It  may,  therefore, 
be  worth  while  to  refer  to  Kirchmaier's  scornful  enumeration 

1  Martene  speaks  of  a  miniature  which  shows  clergy  and  laity 
crowned  with  flowers.  "Idemeruiter  ex  missale  Melodunensi,  in  quo 
feria  5,  post  festum  SS.  Trinitatis  habetur  missa  de  SS.  Sacramento, 
cui  appicta  est  imago  sacerdotis  sacram  eucharistiam  manu  gestantis, 
sub  baldachino  a  quatuor  viris  delato,  qui  perinde  ac  sacerdos  ipse 
reliquique  clerici  nudum  caput  florum  coronis  ornatum  habent." — op. 
cit.  IV:  xxix,  5  (ed.  1764). 

^  Lydgate,  in  the  Procession  of  Corpus  Christi,  (early  fifteenth  cen- 
tury), first  summons  patriarchs  and  prophets  to  the  festival,  giving  a 
stanza  to  the  teaching  of  each  viewed  in  connection  with  the  euchar- 
ist.  Next  he  takes  up  the  New  Testament  characters,  in  the  same 
way;   then  the  fathers,  ending  with  Thomas  Aquinas. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  99 

of  the  details  of  one,  with  its  flowers,  lights,  and  allegorical 

figures.^ 

^  "Then  doth  ensue  the  solemne  feast  of  Corpus  Christi  day. 

Who  then  can  shewe  their  wicked  vse,  and  fonde  and  foolish  play? 
The  hallowed  bread  with  worship  great,  in  siluer  Pix  they  bears 
About  the  Church,  or  in  the  Citie  passing  here  and  theare. 
His  armes  that  beares  the  same,  two  of  the  welthiest  men  do  holde, 
And  over  him  a  Canopey  of  silke  and  cloth  of  golde. 

Christes  passion  here  derided  is,  with  sundrie  maskes  and  playes. 
Fair  Ursley  with  hir  maydens  all,  doth  passe  amid  the  wayes: 
And  vaUant  George,  with  speare  thou  killest  the  dreadfull  dragon 

here: 
The  deuils  house  is  drawne  about,  wherein  there  doth  appere 
A  wondrous  sort  of  damned  sprites,  with  foule  and  fearefull  looke; 
Great  Christopher  doth  wade  and  passe  with  Christ  amid  the 

brooke; 
Sebastian  full  of  feathred  shaftes,  the  dint  of  dart  doth  feele. 
There  walketh  Kathren  with  her  sworde  in  hande,  and  cruell 

wheele: 
The  Challis  and  the  singing  Cake,  with  Barbara  is  led. 
And  simdrie  other  Pageants  playde  in  worship  of  this  bred, 
That  please  the  foolish  people  well:  what  shoulde  I  stand  vpon, 
Their  Banners,  Crosses,  Candlestickes,  and  reliques  many  on. 
Their  Cuppes  and  earned  Images,  that  priestes  with  countnance  hie, 
Or  rude  and  common  people  beare  about  full  solemlie? 
Saint  John  before  the  bread  doth  go,  and  poynting  towardes  him, 
Doth  shew  the  same  to  be  the  Lambe  that  takes  away  our  sinne: 
On  whome  two  clad  in  Angels  shape  do  simdrie  flowres  fhng, 
A  number  great  of  sacring  Belles,  with  pleasant  sounde  doering. 
The  common  wayes  with  bowes  are  strawde,  and  every  streete 

beside. 
An  to  the  walles  and  windowes  all,  are  boughes  and  braunches  tide. 
The  Monkes  in  every  place  do  roams,  the  Nonnes  abrode  are  sent, 
The  Priestes  and  schoolemen  lowde  do  rore,  some  vse  the  instru- 
ment. 
The  straunger  passing  through  the  streete,  vpon  his  knees  doe  fall : 
And  earnestly  upon  this  bread,  as  on  his  God  doth  call." 

Fourth  Book  of  the  Popish  Kingdojn,  or  r eigne  of  Antichrist  written  in 
Latine  verse  by  Thomas  Naogeorgus  (or  Kirchmaier)  and  englyshed  by 
Barnabe  Googe.     Anno  1570. 


100  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

VI 

A  comparison  of  the  Corpus  Christi  procession  with  that 
at  the  close  of  Dante's  Purgatory  cannot  fail  to  bring  out 
striking  resemblances  between  them.  These  resemblances, 
as  will  be  seen  on  close  examination,  involve  general  trend 
and  purpose  as  well  as  detail,  and  it  is  hard  to  believe  them 
purely  accidental.  They  may  therefore  be  considered  care- 
fully in  the  hope  of  finding  in  them  the  clew  to  a  really  con- 
vincing interpretation  of  the  last  six  cantos  of  the  Purgatory. 

While  certain  features  of  the  allegory  in  these  cantos  have 
been  studied  minutely  and  at  great  length  their  whole  bear- 
ing has  been  rather  casually  dismissed  by  criticism.  So 
Vossler,  in  his  aesthetic  interpretation  of  the  Divine  Comedy,^ 
considers  Dante's  whole  treatment  of  the  Earthly  Paradise 
a  blunder  with  disastrous  consequences,  a  blunder  which  the 
ideas  of  his  age  forced  even  upon  the  greatest  genius.^ 
Symonds  thought  that  "to  a  modern  taste  this  pageant  is 
artistically  a  failure.  The  difficulty  of  identifying  all  the 
personages  who  play  parts  in  it,  and  the  dryness  of  the  ab- 
stract imagery,  overtax  the  attention  of  readers  accustomed 
to  greater  freedom  and  directness  of  poetical  presentation."  ' 
The  best  that  is  said  of  it  is  a  tempered  praise  of  its  value 
as  an  example  of  allegory  carried  to  its  highest  pitch  and 
therefore  deserving  close  study .^  There  has  been  little 
attempt  to  account  for  the  character  of  the  procession  or 
for  its  place  at  the  very  gates  of  heaven.  Nor  has  any  in- 
terpretation placed  the  episode  of  the  Earthly  Paradise  in 
balanced  relation  to  the  entire  poem;  it  has  been  credited 
with  no  structural  value. 

1  Karl  Vossler,  Die  GottUche  Komodie,  II:  ii,  pp.  238-245. 

2  "Kurz,  dieser  Irrtum  ist  der  Zins,  den  auch  das  grosste  Genie 
seinem  Zeitalter  zu  entrichten  gehalten  ist."    lb.  p.  245. 

'  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Dante,  ch.  iv. 
*  Moore,  Studies  in  Dante,  III:  178  ff. 


THE   DIVINE   COMEDY  101 

On  one  point,  however,  the  critics  are  in  very  general 
agreement,  and  that  is  that  in  the  mystical  procession  Dante 
meant  to  show  forth  the  triumph  of  the  church  universal, 
represented  by  the  chariot,  drawn  by  the  two-natured 
griffin,  symbol  of  Christ.  There  is  no  reason  to  dispute  this 
explanation  as  far  as  it  goes,  even  if  one  insists  upon  the 
eucharistic  association,  for  one  object  of  the  feast  of  Corpus 
Christi  was  to  show  forth  the  triumph  of  the  church  which 
centred  in  the  glorification  of  the  eucharist.  But,  though 
the  peculiarly  joyous  character  of  the  episode,  with  it 
accessories  of  flowers,  lights,  and  symbohc  figures,  might  be 
traced  directly  to  the  ancient  triumph,  and  need  not  be 
derived  from  the  new  festival,  the  explanation  is  inade- 
quate, offering  no  solution  for  many  obvious  questions. 

Why,  for  example,  is  Beatrice  the  central  figure?  It  has 
been  said  that  she  here  personifies  revelation,  or  the  author- 
ity of  the  church,  or  the  ideal  papacy.  It  is  never  safe,  of 
course,  to  claim  a  single,  exclusive  meaning  for  any  part  of 
Dante's  allegory,  and  Beatrice  may  figure  all  of  these,  but 
not  one  of  them  accounts  for  her  sudden  descent  into  the 
midst  of  such  a  procession.  In  any  of  these  characters  her 
fitting  place  would  be  within  the  chariot  at  its  first  appear- 
ance, but  Dante  becomes  aware  of  her  presence  only  after 
certain  ceremonies  of  ritual  significance. 

Again,  to  whom  are  the  various  salutations  addressed? 
Does  "Blessed  art  thou  among  women"  ^  refer  to  Beatrice, 
or  is  it  literally  a  hymn  to  the  Virgin.  When  the  figure 
representing  the  book  of  Canticles  chants,  "Come  forth  from 
Lebanon,  0  spouse,"  ^  is  the  welcomed  one  the  church,  or  is 
it  Beatrice?  Who  is  called  blessed  as  coming  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord?  ^  Commentators  differ  and  no  unifying  suggestion 
is  made. 

It  is,  therefore,  worth  while  to  make  a  study  of  the  pro- 
cession in  the  Earthly  Paradise,  deliberately  taking  as  a 

1  Purg.  XXIX:  85-87.  ^  lb.  XXX:  11.         =>  lb.  XXX:  19. 


102  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

key  its  eucharistic  implications,  shown  not  only  in  its 
undeniable  resemblance  to  that  of  Corpus  Christi  but  in 
other  ways. 

VII 

Dante  conceives  the  Earthly  Paradise  as  a  plain  on  the 
"top  of  the  mount  of  purification  and  in  it  he  places  the  scene 
of  the  end  of  the  Purgatory.  It  is  a  place  of  primeval  love- 
■  liness,  eool  shade,  und  gleaming  water,  made  bright  by  many 
fiowers.  As  he  enters  it,  Dante,  fresh  from  purifying  pain, 
sees  Matilda  gathering  the  flowers  as  she  sings  the  joy 
of  the  forgiven.  Fearing  to  lose  sight  of  her,  the  first  soul 
he  has  encountered  who  has  entered  into  the  inheritance  of 
bliss,  he  keeps  pace  with  her  as  she  moves  along  the  far 
side  of  Lethe.  At  a  turn  of  the  stream  they  find  themselves 
looking  eastward,  and,  in  front  of  them,  a  sudden  flash  of 
light  through  the  forest  announces  a  great  pageant.  Seven 
golden  candlesticks,  the  lamps  of  the  Spirit,  move  forward 
over  the  flower-strewn  ground,  their  streaming  lights  typi- 
fying its  sevenfold  gifts. ^  Before  and  behind  the  central 
group,  the  car  and  the  griffin,  move  symbolic  figures  which 
represent  the  books  of  the  Bible.  In  the  vanguard  are  four 
and  twenty  elders,  white-robed  and  crowned  with  lilies. 
These  represent  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  in  so 
doing  may  indicate  as  well  the  introit,  a  part  of  the  eucha- 
ristic liturgy. 

The  words  of  the  introit  are  chanted  as  the  clergy  and 
assistants  enter  the  choir  at  the  beginning  of  mass.  These 
words  are  taken  almost  exclusively  from  the  Old  Testament, 

*  There  is,  of  course,  much  dispute  as  to  the  symbolism  of  the 
"sette  liste"  {Purg.  XXIX:  77),  and,  no  doubt,  Dante  may  have  had 
more  than  one  significance  in  mind.  But  the  seven  lamps  of  the  Spirit 
in  the  Apocalypse  {Rev.  IV:  5)  are  so  frequently  associated  with  the 
seven  gifts  of  the  Spirit  (based  on  Isaiah  XI:  2;  cf.  Conv.  IV:  xxi), 
that  he  could  hardly  have  failed  to  provide  a  symbol  for  the  latter. 


THE    DIVINE    COMEDY  103 

because,  according  to  the  complicated  sjTiibolism  which  was 
worked  into  every  part  of  the  mass,  the  opening  procession 
represented  the  participation  of  the  whole  church  in  the 
coming  of  Christ,  and  the  words  chosen  to  accompany  it 
were  those  of  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  in  order  that  the 
prophetic  share  of  the  saints  of  the  Old  Dispensation  in  the 
acceptance  of  Christ  might  be  commemorated.^  So  it  is 
most  fitting  that  the  figures  of  those  who  rejoiced  aforetime 
in  the  promise  of  Christ  should  hail  the  renewal  of  His  com- 
ing with  the  supreme  Salutation  and  promise  of  salvation, 
—  "Blessed  art  thou  among  the  daughters  of  Adam,"  ^ 
ending  with  the  praise  of  the  mother  of  Christ.  For  the 
Salutation,  first  uttered,  greeted  the  coming  of  Christ  in 
the  flesh,  a  coming  perpetually  renewed  in  the  miracle  of 
the  mass.^ 

After  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  come  the  four  beasts 
figuring  the  gospels,  which  are  the  records  of  the  incarnate 
life  of  Christ,  of  the  consummation  of  man's  redemption, 
and  of  the  eucharistic  commemoration  thereof.  After  them 
the  two-natured  griffirty  figure  of  Christ,  draws  the  Chariot 
of  the  church.''    This,  significantly,  comes  between  the  books 

1  Vide.  App.  p.  133. 

2  Purg.  XXIX:  85-87. 

'  The  mother  of  Christ  is  frequently  addressed  as  a  vessel  of  the 
sacrament: 

"Vale  urna,  manna,  merum, 
panem  cceU  portans  verum." 

—  Hymni  Latini,  Mone,  II:  270. 

"Gaude  virgo  setherea, 
uvam  mitem  parturiens, 
urna  decens  et  aurea, 
verum  manna  suscipiens." 

—  76.11:  186. 

*  Dante's  acknowledged  reminiscence  of  Ezekiel  {Purg.  XXIX: 
100)  is  interesting  not  only  on  account  of  the  four  beasts  but  in  rela- 
tion to  the  chariot.    Jewish  mysticism  found  much  of  its  expression  in 


104  THE  MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

concerned  with  the  coming  of  Christ  and  those  which  record 
the  estabhshment  of  His  kingdom  on  earth  —  the  church. 
These  last,  representatives  of  the  new  law,  are  also  crowned 
with  flowers,  but  blood  red,  like  fire  above  their  brows,  for 
the  new  law  is  that  of  love,  and  for  Dante  its  color  is  there- 
fore that  of  living  flame. ^  In  keeping  with  the  general  Corpus 
Christi  associations  the  attendant  angels  scatter  flowers 
above  and  around,  and  the  figures  of  the  virtues  rejoice  in 
a  festal  dance. 

Turning  to  the  chariot  "as  to  their  peace,"  the  ministers 
and  messengers  of  life  eternal  unite  in  singing  ''Benedictus 

the  Ma'aseh  Merkabah,  "work  of  the  chariot,"  which  dealt  with  the 
visible  manifestations  of  God.  There  was  in  some  quarters  a  belief 
that  certain  mystic  expositions  of  Ezekiel  1,  or  even  of  subjects  connected 
with  it,  would  cause  God  to  appear.  The  initiated  believed  themselves 
to  enter  into  the  heavenly  chariot  and  in  it  ascend  to  the  heavens  where 
they  saw  God.  Philo  adopted  the  idea  of  the  chariot  and  its  charioteer, 
Metatron,  and  applied  it  to  the  Logos.  Cf.  Abelson,  Jeivish  Mysticism; 
Jewish  EncyclopcEdia,  Art.  Chariot.  This  is  tempting,  but  so  far  I 
have  found  nothing  else  to  show  that  Dante  ever  heard  of  this  particu- 
lar conception  of  the  visio  Dei. 

^  That  the  relation  of  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the 
saints  of  the  New  to  the  first  coming  of  Christ  is  continued  in  their 
relation  to  His  eucharistic  presence  is  shown  in  a  Corpus  Christi  ludus. 
(AUdeutsche  Schauspiele,  ed.  Mone).  It  is  headed  "Incipit  ludus  utilis 
pro  devotione  simplicium  intimandus  et  peragendus  die  corporis  Christi 
vel  infra  octaves,  de  fide  kathoUca."  Beginning  with  Adam  and  Eve 
the  Old  Testament  characters  repeat  their  foretellings  of  Christ,  and 
alternately  the  New  Testament  characters,  John  the  Baptist,  apostles 
and  magi,  give  their  experience.  At  the  end  the  Pope  sums  it  all  up  in 
the  eucharist:  — 

"daz  wir  njamn^r  muessen  ersterben, 

wir  mussen  gotes  hulde  erwerben, 

da^uns  sin  heylger  lychnam  werde  gegeben 

czii  eynem  geleyte  in  daz  ewige  leben. 

daz  uns  daz  alien  musse  gesehen, 

dar  um  so  sprecht  amen." 
It  will  be  noticed  that  this  arrangement  is  much  the  same  as  that  in 
Lydgate's  poem  referred  to  on  p.  98. 


THE   DIVINE   COMEDY  105 

qui  venis"  as  they,  too,  scatter  flowers.^  Now  these  words, 
slightly  modified,  as  is  also  the  angelic  salutation,^  are  the 
very  last  sung  by  the  assistants  before  the  canon  of  the  mass. 
The  Sanctus,  which  embodies  the  heavenly  worship  of  the 
Lamb  that  was  slain,  is  joined  to  the  Benedidus,  the  worship 
offered  on  Palna  Sunday  to  the  Lamb  about  to  be  led  to 
the  slaughter.^  The  significance  of  the  words  in  the  liturgy 
is  undoubtedly,  that  as  they  were  first  sung  to  welcome 
Christ  into  His  city  of  Jerusalem,  so  now  they  greet  Christ 
Whom  the  faithful  expect  on  the  altar  at  the  words  of 
consecration.^  In  this  chant  the  eucharistic  meaning, 
implicit  in  the  character  of  procession,  is  fully  unfolded. 


VIII 

But  the  heart  of  the  Corpus  Christi  pageant  is  the  host 
under  its  canopy,  while  here  the  festival  centres  in  the  veiled 

1  Purg.  XXX:  18-20. 

2  76.  XXIX:  85-87. 

^  "Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Sanctus,  Dominus  Deus  Sabaoth.  Pleni  sunt 
cceU  et  terra  gloria  tua.  Hosanna  in  excelsis.  Benedictus  qui  venit  in 
nomine  Domini.     Hosanna  in  excelsis." 

"Post  finitum  hymnum:  Sanctus,  Sanclus,  Sanctus,  inclinant  se  crr- 
cumstantes,  venerando  divinam  majestatem  cum  angelis,  et  Domini 
incamationem  cum  turbis."  Hildebert  of  Lavardin,  Liber  de  expositione 
misscE,  Migne,  CLXXI:    1161. 

^  "To  the  praise  of  the  triune  God  follows  the  jubilant  salutation 
of  the  Redeemer,  who  wiU  soon  appear  mystically  on  the  altar  'in 
fulness  of  mercy.'  The  hymn  concludes  with  the  triumphal  chant  with 
which  the  Savior  was  welcomed  by  the  multitudes  as  Prince  of  Peace 
and  conqueror  of  death  at  His  solemn  entrance  into  Jerusalem,  and 
with  which  He  is  now  again  saluted  at  His  coming  on  the  altar.  .    .    . 

How  profoundly  significant  is  this  formula  of  worship,  this  grateful 
and  joyous  praise  of  the  Savior  inserted  here,  at  this  part  of  the  Mass, 
when  He  is  on  the  point  of  re-appearing  in  our  midst  as  a  victim,  as 
formerly  He  entered  into  Jerusalem  to  accomplish  on  the  Cross  the 
bloody  sacrifice."  Nicholas  Gihr,  The  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.,  tr. 
St.  Louis,  1902,  pp.  565-567. 


106  THE   MYSTIC    VISION   IN 

figure  of  Beatrice.  She  appears  in  its  midst  as  suddenly  and 
as  silently  as  the  sacramental  presence  of  Christ  comes  to 
the  altar  at  the  words  of  consecration.  It  is  for  her  that  the 
lights  blaze,  the  flowers  are  strewn,  and  the  great  cry  of 
greeting  and  welcome  goes  up.  She  is  the  burden  of  the 
chariot  beside  which  Faith,  Hope,  and  Charity  circle  in  a 
dance  even  as  the  bull  of  Pope  Urban  had  required.^  One 
naturally  asks  why  Dante's  lost  love  should  return  to  him 
as  the  main  figure  of  this  triumph  of  Christian  worship, 
enthroned  within  the  church,  hailed  as  is  the  miracle  of 
transubstantiation,  honored,  as  is  the  host,  in  solemn  proces- 
sion? Why,  indeed,  if  not  to  show  at  the  outset  of  her  visible 
return  that  she  is  now  and  hereafter  not  the  lost  love  but 
the  mystic  Beatrice,  divinely  appointed  agent  of  Dante's 
salvation  and  enlightenment? 

It  is  quite  true  that,  even  in  his  most  earthly  mood, 
Dante  never  failed  to  find  spiritual  significance  in  his  rela- 
tion to  Beatrice.  At  his  first  meeting  with  Bice  Portinari, 
the  neighbor's  little  daughter,  his  eyes  were  opened  and  he 
knew  something  of  the  function  and  power  of  love.  When 
he  came  to  write  of  the  experiences  of  his  childhood  and 
first  youth  in  the  New  Ldfe,  discerning  more  clearly  her 
meaning  for  him,  he  spoke  of  her  as  blessedness,  as  salvation, 
for  her  name  is  blessedness,  and  in  her  salutation  is  his 
salvation.  But  the  great  purpose  of  his  life  was  to  pay  her 
the  supreme  tribute,  to  write  of  her  what  had  never  before 
been  written  of  any  lady,  and  so  throughout  the  Divine 
Comedy  he  treats  of  her  as  the  mirror  which  reflects  into  his 
soul  the  light  of  God,  an  illumination  whereby  he  may  find 
the  way  which  leads  to  his  true  native  comitry.  The  figure 
is  plastic ;  God  speaks  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners, 
and  Beatrice  in  the  Divine  Comedy  has  been  variously  inter- 
preted as  a  symbol  of  spiritual  wisdom,  of  theology,  the 

^  Vide,  ut  sup.,  p.  93. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  107 

divine  science,  of  the  revelation  of  God  in  Scripture,  of  the 
authority  of  the  church.  She  is  by  turns  all  of  these,  for 
she  stands  for  religion  in  the  sense  of  the  tie  which  binds  man 
to  God,  for  union  and  communion  with  Him.  As  in  the 
record  of  his  young  life,  the  New  Life,  so  also  in  that  of 
his  mature  experience,  the  Divine  Comedy,  Dante's  end  and 
object  are  the  same,  her  salutation,  his  salvation;  though 
his  conception  of  the  scope  of  these  develops  steadily.  So 
it  is  by  no  new  allegory,  but  rather  by  a  logical  continua- 
tion of  the  original  that  Beatrice,  heart  and  reason  of  the 
pageant  in  the  Earthly  Paradise,  is  the  symbol  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  altar,  crown  and  centre  of  all  Christian  worship 
as  well  as  the  chief  means  of  grace  and  salvation;  at  once 
the  burden  of  the  church  and  its  glory;  last  legacy  of  Christ, 
made  possible  by  His  twofold  nature  which  carries  earth 
to  heaven  and  brings  down  heaven  to  earth. 

No  doubt  this  whole  conception  of  the  mystic  procession, 
and  especially  that  of  the  place  of  Beatrice  in  it,  is  disturb- 
ing, almost  shocking,  at  first  presentation.  It  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  so  complex  a  meaning  underlies  the  decora- 
tive details,  or  that  Dante  could  have  intended  so  to  exalt 
Beatrice  as  to  make  her  the  figure  of  the  eucharistic  Christ. 
But  modern  readers  have  entirely  lost  the  habit  of  allegory, 
they  resent  being  puzzled,  and  so  they  are  apt  to  declare 
not  only  that  the  color  and  texture  of  the  veil  are  quite 
worth  while  for  themselves,  but  to  go  further  and  say  that 
the  meaning  it  is  said  to  conceal  may  exist  only  in  the  over- 
subtle  mind  of  the  inquirer.  But,  whatever  may  be  the  artis- 
tic value  of  an  allegory  of  the  Middle  Ages,  it  is  hardly  fair 
to  the  men  who  created  it  to  take  beauty  of  form  and  color 
as  the  aim  and  end  of  their  work.  To  them  the  value  of  it 
lay  in  the  adjustment  of  means  to  end,  in  the  vividness  and 
accuracy  with  which  the  spiritual  might  be  set  forth  through 
the  material.  At  first  a  means  of  reaching  the  infinite 
through  the  finite,  allegory  came  to  be  an  obsession  com- 


108  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

pelliBg  men  to  reverse  the  process  and  scrutinize  the  whole 
of  creation,  not  for  its  own  sake  but  for  its  hidden  meaning. 
The  most  highly  trained  intellects  of  the  Middle  Ages 
devoted  themselves  to  this  sort  of  interpretation  and  found 
no  created  thing  too  humble  or  commonplace  to  illustrate 
the  things  of  the  spirit.  Thus  finding  the  great  mirrored  in 
the  small,  they  saw  themselves  as  close  followers  of  their 
Master  who  took  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  as  the  symbol  of 
His  kingdom.  Moreover,  while  one  thing  is  susceptible  of 
half  a  dozen  spiritual  interpretations,  many  figures  may  be 
required  to  present  as  many  different  aspects  of  one  reality, 
until  at  last  the  intricate  results  of  this  way  of  thinking  and 
writing  seem  to  us  little  more  than  masterpieces  of  inge- 
nuity.* But,  whether  we  scornfully  dismiss  this  trait  as 
"childish,"  or  sentimentalize  about  it  as  "childlike,"  it  is 
always  to  be  reckoned  with  in  the  study  of  medieval 
literature. 

This  method  of  illustrating  great  truths  and  conveying 
instruction  concerning  them  was,  of  course,  used  in  regard 
to  the  sacraments.  To  Hugh  of  St.  Victor  the  whole  universe, 
seen  and  unseen,  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  last 
judgment,  was  a  vast  and  many-sided  symbol  of  God,  and 
in  it  might  be  found,  by  him  who  would  search  humbly, 
patiently,  and  thoroughly,  the  figures  of  that  sacramental 
plan  of  salvation,  in  itself  a  symbol  of  the  grace  and  goodness 
of  God.     Sacraments  are  symbolized  in  creation,  but  they 

^  Numerous  examples  of  this  are  to  be  found  in  the  AUegorioe  in  Uni- 
versam  sacram  Scripturam  of  Rabanus  Maurus,  Migne,  (CXII:  849  ff). 
There  is  no  fixed  connection  between  any  one  thing  and  its  allegorical 
meaning,  all  is  fluid.  For  instance,  butter  may  signify  the  humanity  of 
Christ,  the  teaching  of  the  patriarchs,  the  contemplative  life,  the  lust 
of  the  flesh,  the  fruitfulness  of  a  good  act,  the  anointing  with  spiritual 
virtues,  the  oil  of  penitence.  But  the  humanity  of  Christ  may  be 
figured  by  a  diadem  as  well  as  by  butter,  while  His  divinity  is  signified 
by  the  head,  and  His  office  as  light  of  the  world  by  a  candlestick. 
And  so  on  indefinitely. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  109 

are  at  the  same  time  symbols  of  hidden  virtue.^  And  so 
Hugo  leads  up  to  the  exposition  of  the  great  climax  of  all 
sacramental  imagery,  the  eucharist. 

Moreover,  it  was  not  only  an  age  of  allegory  but  one  of 
dramatic  interpretation  as  well.  The  mass  itself  is  a  great 
drama,  but  in  the  interest  of  even  greater  vividness  all 
manner  of  more  or  less  dramatic  material  was  introduced 
into  the  celebration  of  it. 

"From  the  tenth  century  people  took  all  manner  of  Uberties 
with  the  text  of  the  Missal.  It  was  the  time  of  farced  Kyries  and 
Glorias,  of  dramatic  and  even  theatrical  ritual,  of  endlessly  vary- 
ing and  lengthy  prefaces,  into  which  interminable  accounts  from 
Bible  history  and  lives  of  saints  were  introduced.  This  tendency 
did  not  even  spare  the  Canon,  although  the  specially  sacred  char- 
acter of  this  part  tended  to  prevent  people  from  tampering  with 
it  as  recklessly  as  they  did  with  other  parts  of  the  Missal."  * 

Dante  is  always  dramatic  in  his  presentation  and  he 
avowedly  intended  the  use  of  the  most  complicated  allegory. 
Moreover,  he  felt  no  irreverence  whatever  in  identifying 
Beatrice  as  a  figure  of  Christ,  commenting  on  the  name  of 
her  companion,  Giovanna,  as  being  the  same  as  that  of 
Giovanni,  the  Baptist,  who  was  the  forerunner  of  the  true 
light  of  the  world,^  and  putting  into  her  mouth  on  the  eve  of 
her  departure  for  Paradise  the  reassuring  words  of  Christ 
Himself: 

"  Modicum,  et  non  videbitis  me, 

Et  iterum,  beloved  sisters  mine, 

Modicum,  et  vos  videbitis  me."  * 

There  is  surely  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  need  have 
felt  the  slightest  hesitation  about  taking  his  glorified  lady 

1  Cf.  H.  O.  Taylor,  The  Medieval  Mind,  II:   67-104. 

^  Adrian  Fortescue,  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Canon. 

3  Vita  Nuova,  XXIV. 

*  Purg.  XXXIII:  10-12.    Also  St.  John,  XVI:  16. 


110  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

in  the  Earthly  Paradise  as  a  symbol  of  the  sacrament  in 
which  Christ  continues  His  presence  in  the  church. 

Nor  is  Dante  quite  alone  in  this  conception  of  his  lady. 
It  has  its  analogies  in  those  poems  to  the  Virgin  which  in 
their  language  have  so  close  a  connection  with  lady  worship 
and  in  which  Madonna  is  compared  to  the  pot  of  manna, 
to  Bethlehem,  the  house  of  bread,  to  the  ark  of  the  covenant 
which  contained  the  manna  from  heaven,  and  to  the  taber- 
nacle within  which  was  the  glory  of  God.  In  several  instances 
in  the  German  vernacular  she  is  addressed  as  the  Grail,  and 
the  comparison  is  also  carried  over  to  the  praise  of  the  lady; 
the  beloved  one  is  the  heart's  Grail,  her  lover  will  not  be 
alone,  for  she  is  to  be  to  him  the  highest  Grail  which  pro- 
tects from  every  woe.^ 

X 

Details  of  the  episode  tend  to  strengthen  such  an  inter- 
pretation of  the  significance  of  Beatrice.  She  is  that  lady 
who  appears  veiled  in  white  in  the  midst  of  the  angelic 
festival,^  In  eucharistic  devotion  Christ  is  over  and  over 
again  spoken  of  as  hidden  beneath  the  veils  of  bread  and 
wine.  They  conceal  Christ  as  things  are  concealed  from  us 
by  a  physical  veil.^  St.  Bernard,  interpreting  the  pillar  of 
cloud  in  the  wilderness,  says  it  foretold  most  truly  the  holy 
sacrament  in  which  the  majesty  of  God,  the  splendor  of 
which  mortal  infirmity  could  not  bear,  is  veiled  to  our  eyes.* 

^  For  the  references  to  these  poems,  but  not  for  the  inferences  drawn 
from  them,  I  am  indebted,  as  1  have  said  (p.  84),  to  Hertz.  The  text 
of  them  will  be  found  in  the  Appendix,  p.  134. 

2  Purg.  XXX:  31,  65-69. 

^  "Per  modvun  tegimaenti,  sicut  impedimur  videre  id  quod  est  vela- 
tum  quocumque  corporal!  velamine."  Summa,  Pt.  Ill,  Qu.  LXXVI, 
Art.  7. 

''  "Quae  est  autem  nubes  quae  praecedit  vero  IsraeUtas,  nisi  veris- 
Btmum  et  sanctissimum  corpus  tuum  quod  in  altari  sumimus?  in  quo 
velatur  nobis  altitudo  dei,  immensitas  majestatis  tuse,  cujus  et  calorem 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  111 

In  the  Dialogue  of  St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  Christ  says  to  the 
soul:  "In  that  place  thou  didst  see  and  taste  the  abyss  of 
the  Trinity,  whole  God  and  whole  man,  concealed  and 
veiled  in  that  whiteness  that  thou  sawedst  in  the  bread."  ^ 
The  same  figure  is  later  elaborated  in  one  of  Calderon's 
autos,  the  Divine  Philothea,  in  which  the  wandering  prince 
wears  a  veil.  This  veil  is  lifted  by  Faith.  When  the  divine 
Philothea  mourns  the  departure  of  the  prince  she  is  assured 
that  Faith  will  raise  another  veil  so  that  he  can  still  be  seen 
by  the  eyes  of  believers.  Thereupon  an  altar  is  shown  with 
the  host  and  chalice.  This  is  a  dramatic  presentation  of 
St.  Bernard's  "Glorious  and  beloved  bride,  on  earth  thou 
hast  the  bridegroom  in  the  sacrament,  in  heaven  without  the 
veil."  2 

Seen  across  the  stream,  veiled  beneath  the  angelic  festival, 
Beatrice  is  even  more  beautiful  than  Dante's  memory  of 
her.  He  trembles  with  amazement,  and  it  is  only  when  the 
griffin's  twofold  image  is  reflected  in  her  eyes  that  he  can 
understand  its  meaning,^  —  that  is  the  eucharist  is  the  ex- 
tension of  the  Incarnation,  and  only  by  its  means  can  man 
comprehend  the  significance  of  God  made  man  for  man's 
salvation.  This  double  symbolizing  of  Christ,  as  God  in- 
carnate by  the  griffin  and  as  the  host  in  Beatrice,  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  conception  very  often  expressed  in  religious 
literature,  —  that  Christ  is  both  giver  and  gift,  priest  and 
victim. 

The  flowing  tears,  which  the  angels'  song  of  hope  and 
forgiveness  brings  to  Dante's  eyes  frozen  with  awe  of  the 

et  splendorem  mortalis  infinnitas  sustinere  non  posset,  nisi  mediatrix 
nubes  interposita  et  ardorem  desuper  temperaret,  et  tutam  subtus  viam 
praemonstraret." —  Meditatio  in  passionem,  XII,  Migne,  CLXXXIV:  761. 

1  Ch.  CXI,  tr.  Thorold. 

*  "Gloriosa  et  amabilis  sponsa,  in  terra  sponsum  habes  in  sacra- 
mento,  in  coelis  habitura  es  sine  velamento."  —  Sermo  de  excellentia  SS. 
Sacramenti,  Migne,  CLXXXIV:  985. 

3  Purg.  XXXI:  115  ff. 


112  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

presence  of  Beatrice,  have  their  counterpart  in  many  Hves 
of  the  saints,  for  tears  were  regarded  as  a  gift  of  grace.  St. 
Cuthbert,  says  Bede,  felt  compunction  so  deeply  that  he 
never  finished  mass  without  a  profusion  of  tears. ^  Thomas 
Cantelupe  (d.  1282)  always  wept  profusely  at  mass,^  and 
Robert  Winchelsy,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  wept  so  in 
saying  mass  that  the  corporal  and  altar  cloth  were  wet.* 
In  perfect  correspondence  also  with  religious  experience  is 
Dante's  abject  humility  under  the  reproof  of  Beatrice  which 
seems  to  put  him  in  jarring  contrast  with  the  crowned  and 
mitred  lord  of  himself  whom  Virgil  had  brought  to  the 
borders  of  the  Earthly  Paradise.  But  it  is  fitting  that  even 
at  the  summit  of  human  wisdom  he  should  know  the  sense 
of  utter  unworthiness  which  is  the  almost  universal  experi- 
ence of  those  who  approach  sacramental  mysteries,  a  feeling 
which  finds  expression  in  the  mass  when  the  oflSciant  strikes 
thrice  upon  his  breast  and  when  he  says,  "Domine,  non  sum 
dignus  ut  intres  sub  tectum  meum."  He  also  experiences 
the  swoon  which  occurs  frequently  among  mystics,  especially 
when  overcome  with  reverential  awe  of  the  sacraments. 
Again,  as  Eve  lost  Paradise  because  she  was  impatient  of 
the  veil  and  would  fain  know  as  God,^  so  Dante  is  reproved 
for  the  steadfastness  of  his  gaze  at  the  veiled  Beatrice;  ^ 
he  must  not  seek  to  know  more  than  is  revealed  lest  he  lose 
the  blessedness  of  the  second  Paradise  —  the  vision  of  God 
in  its  sacramental  form.  The  subsequent  commination  of 
the  church  by  Beatrice  has  an  interesting  parallel  in  the 
Dialogue  of  St.  Catherine  of  Siena,  in  which  eucharistic 
enthusiasm  is  followed  by  severe  condemnation  of  the  sins 
of  the  priesthood,  doubly  black  in  view  of  the  fact  that  it 
is  by  its  agency  alone  that  the  sacramental  presence  of  Christ 
may  be  vouchsafed  to  the  church.    In  the  Dialogue  Christ 

1  Vita  S.  Cuth.  XVI.    Migne,  XCIV:  756. 

2  Acta  SS.,  Oct.  1:  603.  *  Purg.  XXIX:  27. 
»  Wilkins,  op.  cit.  II:  489.  »  lb.  XXXII:  9. 


THE   DIVINE    COMEDY  113 

says :  "  Even  as  these  ministers  require  cleanness  in  the  chaHce 
in  which  this  Sacrifice  is  made,  even  so  do  I  require  the  purity 
and  cleanness  of  their  heart  and  soul  and  mind."  ^ 


XI 

All  these  are  details,  each  throwing  some  weight  on  the 
side  of  eucharistic  interpretation,  and  so  worth  consideration. 
But,  after  all,  the  most  important  point  is  the  need  of  such 
an  interpretation  of  the  pageant  to  account  for  its  occurrence 
in  the  Divine  Comedy  on  the  threshold  of  Paradise.  So  taken, 
it  ceases  to  be  a  mere  decorative  intrusion,  as  so  many 
readers  have  felt  it,  and  assumes  structural  importance. 

Dante,  in  accord  with  medieval  theology,  conceived  the 
goal  of  man  to  be  the  blessedness  of  eternal  life,  and  this 
consists  in  the  fruition  of  the  divine  aspect,  the  vision  of 
God  in  the  celestial  Paradise.  There  man  like  the  angels 
will  see  God  face  to  face.  In  this  world  he  must  be  content 
to  see  as  in  a  glass  darkly,  he  needs  means  adapted  to  his 
present  limitations.  The  whole  mount  of  Purgatory  as 
Dante  climbs  it  shows  the  service  of  the  church  in  providing 
such  means.  He  hears  at  every  terrace  the  prayers  and 
hynms  of  the  liturgy,  passes  through  the  sacrament  of 
penance  as  a  gate,  and  is  constantly  reminded  of  the  Chris- 
tian classification  of  sins  and  virtues.  Using  the  means  of 
grace  thus  offered,  he  passes  into  the  Earthly  Paradise,  the 
goal  of  the  ascent  of  Purgatory  even  as  the  Empyrean  is  the 
goal  of  the  ascent  through  the  spheres.  This  Earthly  Para- 
dise signifies  to  him  the  blessedness  of  this  life,  and  the 
fathers  very  generally  considered  it  to  represent  the  church. 
The  blessedness  of  the  heavenly  Paradise  is  the  full  vision 
of  God.  In  what  vision  is  the  blessedness  of  the  Earthly 
Paradise,  the  church? 

•  Ch.  CXI,  tr.  Thorold.  Cf.  the  discussion  on  sacerdotal  purity, 
p.  69. 


114  THE   MYSTIC   VISION   IN 

A\Tiat,  indeed,  but  the  vision  in  the  eucharist,  the  supreme 
means  by  which  the  faithful,  purified  in  heart,  may  see  God 
even  in  this  Ufe?  ^  This  view  appears  in  a  passage  from 
Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  great  scholastic  mystic,  honored  by 
Dante  in  Paradise.^  He  says  there  are  three  paradises :  the 
first  is  that  of  man's  innocence,  and  in  it  was  the  material 
tree  of  life;  the  second  is  the  church,  and  of  it  the  tree  of 
life  is  Christ  Who  gave  His  life  on  the  cross  and  gives  it 
daily  in  the  eucharist;  the  third  is  the  paradise  of  God, 
whereof  the  tree  is  the  divine  wisdom,  fountain  of  life  and 
origin  of  all  good;^  in  other  words,  knowledge  of  God,  life 
eternal. 

That  the  allegorical  presentation  of  the  sacramental 
visio  Dei  should  centre  in  Beatrice  is  as  logical  as  inevitable.'* 
Dante  was  churchman  and  theologian,  finding  his  salvation 
in  the  means  of  grace  provided  in  the  church;   but  he  was 

^  Cf.  the  vision  attributed  to  Thomas  Aquinas  by  Lydgate  in  A 
Procession  of  Corpus  Christi : 

"Pis  hoolly  Thomas,  called  of  Algwyne, 
By  hie  myracle  J^at  sawghe  persones  three, 
An  ooste  ful  rounde,  a  sunne  about  it  shyne, 
Joyned  in  oon  by  parfyte  vnytee, 
A  gloryous  likenesse  of  l^e  Trynitee, 
Gracyous  and  digne  for  to  beo  comended, 

With  feyth,  with  hope,  with  parfyte  charitee, 
Al  oure  byleeve  is  Jjere  Inne  comprehended." 
Minor  Poems  of  Lydgate,  ed.  McCracken,  p.  42.     Cf.  also  frontis- 
piece in  which  the  centre  shows  the  rose  crown  of  Paradise  enclosing 
the  Trinity.     Above  are  three  visions  of  God  on  earth  —  St.  Francis 
receiving  the  stigmata;  the  holy  face  of  St.  Veronica  and  the  mass  of 
St.  Gregory  —  a  transubstantiation  miracle.      Vide  pp.  78,  79. 
2  Par.  XII:  133. 

'  De  Area  Noe  Morali,  III:  XVII.,  Migne,  CLXXVI:  646.  For 
text  vide.  App.  p.  136. 

*  The  conception  of  Dante's  love  for  Beatrice  as  a  religious  experi- 
ence is  developed  by  Professor  J.  B.  Fletcher,  Religion  of  Beauty  in 
Women,  pp.  30  ff.  I  have  done  little  more  than  work  out  this  experience 
in  terms  of  sacramental  devotion. 


THE   DIVINE   COMEDY  115 

no  less  of  the  school  of  the  dolce  stil  nuovo,  which  adding  to 
the  lady  worship  of  Provence  a  spiritual  quality,  found  in 
the  beauty  of  the  beloved  a  path  leading  to  the  essence  of 
beauty,  goodness  reflecting  God.  At  his  first  glimpse  of  her 
he  knew  that  his  beatification  had  come  to  him.^  She  is 
called  Beatrice  by  many  who  knew  not  wherefore.  Her 
salutation  is  to  him  salvation,  and  its  withdrawal  leaves 
him  utterly  desolate,  excommunicate.  Only  when  he  has 
learned  to  ask  nothing  for  himself  and  to  devote  himseK  to 
her  praise  can  he  find  the  way  to  true  union: 

"Ladies,  the  end  and  aim  of  my  Love  was  but  the  salutation  of 
that  lady  of  whom  I  conceive  that  ye  are  speaking;  wherein  alone 
I  found  that  beatitude  which  is  the  goal  of  desire.  And  now  that  it 
hath  pleased  her  to  deny  me  this,  Love,  my  Master,  of  his  great 
goodness,  hath  placed  all  my  beatitude  where  my  hope  will  not  fail 
me."  2 

Losing  his  young  life  and  love  he  kept  it  "unto  life  eter- 
nal." In  the  New  Life  he  had  found  the  love  of  God  in 
loving  her;  in  the  Divine  Comedy  he  comes  to  the  knowledge 
of  God  through  knowing  her.  He  had  hoped  to  write  con- 
cerning his  lady  what  had  not  before  been  written  of  any 
woman;  and  so,  when  he  came  to  celebrate  the  praise  of 
the  eucharist  —  glory  of  the  Earthly  Paradise,  the  church 
—  the  sacrament  which  is  the  foretaste  of  the  beatific  vision, 
he  could  personify  it  under  no  other  form  than  that  of  the 
lady  who  had  led  him  to  blessedness  in  his  youth  and  by 
whose  hand  he  hoped  still  to  be  led  to  gaze  continually  on 
His  countenance  "Qui  est  per  omnia  saecula  benedictus." 

^  Vita  Nuova,  I. 

^  Tr.  Rossetti.  "Madonne,  lo  fin3  del  mio  amore  fu  gi^  il  salute  di 
questa  donna,  forse  di  cui  vol  intendete,  ed  in  quelle  dimorava  la  beati- 
tudine,  ch'6  11  fine  di  tutti  li  miei  desiri.  Ma  pel  che  le  piacque  di 
negarle  a  me,  lo  mio  signore,  Amore,  la  sua  mercede,  ha  posta  tutta  la 
mia  beatitudine  in  quelle,  che  non  mi  puete  venir  meno."  —  Vita  Nuova, 
XVIII. 


116  THE   MYSTIC    VISION    IN 

XII 

To  recapitulate  briefly  this  special  study  of  the  closing 
cantos  of  the  Purgatory:  we  have  a  scene  set  in  the  Earthly 
Paradise,  to  reach  which  Dante  has  climbed  the  weary  heights 
of  purification.  In  it  he  sees  a  great  pageant,  strikingly 
like  those  processions  of  the  blessed  sacrament  of  which  the 
greatest  is  that  of  Corpus  Christi  day.  The  chariot  of  the 
church,  drawn  by  Christ,  serves  to  bring  into  the  picture 
the  veiled  figure  of  Beatrice,  who  occupies  the  central  posi- 
tion accorded  the  host  in  such  processions  and  who  is  hailed 
in  the  very  words  used  daily  in  the  mass  to  greet  the  coming 
of  Christ  to  the  altar  at  the  moment  of  consecration.  If 
Beatrice  is  here  what  these  words  imply,  namely  the  symbol 
of  transubstantiation,  by  which  God  continues  to  dwell  with 
men,  which  affords  the  highest  degree  of  illumination  possi- 
ble to  the  human  soul  this  side  of  the  beatific  vision,  then  in- 
deed is  the  Earthly  Paradise  type  and  pledge  of  the  heavenly. 
The  glory  of  both  is  the  same;  in  the  one,  as  runs  the  lan- 
guage of  the  mass,  the  "Lamb  of  God  who  taketh  away  the 
sins  of  the  world;"  in  the  other,  as  the  Apocalypse  declares,^ 
"the  Lamb  is  the  light  thereof."  The  reward  of  both  is  the 
vision  of  God;  here  below  in  the  sacramental  mirror,  in  the 
glass  darkly;  there,  face  to  face.  The  eucharistic  vision 
must  share  the  imperfection  of  all  our  vision  here,  but  it  is 
still  the  foretaste  and  earnest  of  that  visio  Dei  to  be  fulfilled 
in  Paradise,  the  complete  illumination  of  the  soul,  salvation, 
beatitude,  the  goal  of  man, 

"  Qui  nobis  das  tam  dulcia 
prsegustando  prseludia, 
te  frui  des  in  patria 
beata  nobis  gaudia."  ^ 

*  Rev.  xxi:  23.  ^  Hymn,  Jesu,  nostra  refectio,  Daniel,  IV;   271. 


APPENDICES 


APPENDICES 

I.  THE  EUCHARIST  AS  A  MEANS  TO 
THE  VISION  OF  GOD  ' 

Dionysius  calls  the  second  part  of  his  work  the  ecclesiastical 
rather  than  the  earthly  hierarchy,  because  the  second  has  the  same 
heavenly  scope  and  end  as  the  first,  —  the  union  with  God.  But 
as  man  is  incapable  of  the  direct  knowledge  of  God  vouchsafed  to 
the  heavenly  orders  he  is  mercifully  provided  with  symbols  whereby 
he  may  be  brought  to  such  degree  of  knowledge  as  is  possible  for 
him.  To  these  sjonbols  he  is  led  by  the  divinely  appointed  eccle- 
siastical hierarchy,  the  custodian  of  them. 

Like  the  Celestial  Hierarchy  the  Ecclesiastical  is  composed  of 
Triads. 

I.  The  three  great  symbolic  sacraments:  (a)  Baptism,  which 
is  purification;  (6)  The  Eucharist  (synaxis)  which  is  illumination; 
(c)  Unction,  which  is  perfecting. 

II.  Bishops,  Priests,  Deacons. 

III.  (a)  Illuminated  monks,  who  are  perfected.  (6)  Initiated 
laymen,  who  are  illuminated,    (c)  Catecumens,  who  are  purified. 

He  works  out  the  first  two  sacraments  very  carefully,  but  does 
very  little  with  the  third.  The  process  by  which  the  neophyte  is 
taken  by  the  ecclesiastical  authority  and  led  to  the  waters  of  puri- 
fication is  elaborated  with  a  symbolic  interpretation  of  every  step 
in  the  liturgy,  and  the  eucharist  is  treated  in  the  same  way. 

The  first  passage  mentioned  in  the  text  treats  of  the  sacraments 
as  the  mirrors  by  means  of  which  God  is  revealed  to  man,  and  runs 
as  follows: 

Cseterum  sublimiores  istae  naturae  ordinesque,  quarum  veneran- 
dam  supra  feci  mentionem,  et  incorporeae  sunt,  et  spiritaUs  ac 
supermundiaUs   sacer   illarum   magistratus   existit;    nostrum  vero 

1  Vide  p.  20. 


120  APPENDICES 

cernimus,  diversa  ab  ipsis  ratione,  sensibilium  varietate  signorum 
multiplicari,  quibus  sacrosancte  ad  uniforraem  deiformitatem  pro 
captu  nostro,  et  ad  Deum  divinamquc  virtutcm  promovemur.  Istae 
quidem,  utpote  mentes,  prout  illis  fas  est  intelligunt;  nos  vero  a 
sensu  perccptis  imaginibus  ad  divinas,  quantum  possumus,  con- 
templationes  sublevamur.  Et  ut  vere  dicam,  unum  quidem  est, 
quod  omnes  qui  deiformes  sunt  appetunt,  ejus  tamen,  quod  omnino 
unum  atque  idem  est,  non  unimode  participes  existunt,  sed  prout 
cuilibet  pro  merito  sortem  divina  trutina  distribuit.    I:ii. 

Ecclesiastical  Hierarchy,  Migne  P.  G.  lll:370ff. 

The  next  closes  with  a  prayer  for  true  knowledge  of  the  eucharist: 

Cseterum  his,  quae  aditorum  vestibulis  eleganter  adpicta  rudiorum 
contemplationi  satis  sunt,  relictis,  ab  effectis  ad  causas  progre- 
diemur,  deinde  sacram  nostram  synaxin,  atque  consentaneam 
rerum  spiritalium,  Jesu  praelucente,  contemplationem  conspicabi- 
mur,  beatam  primitivorum  pulchritudinem  prseclare  prorsus  evi- 
brantem.  Sed  tu,  o  divinissimum  ac  sacrosanctum  sacramentum, 
circumposita  tibi,  symbolice  senigmatum  operimenta  revelans, 
liquido  nobis  manifesteris,  mentalesque  nostros  obtutus  singular! 
et  aperta  luce  adimpleto.    ni:ii. 

And  the  last  connects  sacramental  union  with  the  fruition  of 
God: 

Est  autem  hsec  deificatio,  Dei  quaedam,  quoad  fieri  potest,  assi- 
milatio  unioque.  Omni  porro  ordini  sacro  communis  scopus  est, 
erga  Deum  et  res  divinas  continua  delectio,  quae  divinitus  seritur, 
et  per  ejus  unionem  consummatur,  quaeque  hac  prior  est,  iUi 
adversantium  omnimoda  et  irrevertibilis  fuga,  cognitio  rerum 
qua  res  sunt,  sacrae  veritatis  visio  scientiaque,  simplicis  perfec- 
tionis  ejus  qui  summe  simplex  est,  divina  participatio,  fruitio 
intuitionis,  quae  omnem  sui  contemplatorem  spiritali  modo  reficit 
deificatque.    I:iii. 


APPENDICES  121 

II.  THE  "RITUAL"  THEORY  ^ 

The  theories  advanced  by  Dr.  Nitze^  and  Miss  Weston'  are 
important  contributions  to  recent  Grail  criticism,  and  seem  at  first 
sight  to  present  a  radically  new  departure.  Both  critics  beheve  the 
Grail  legends  are  based  on  agrarian  cults,  but  Professor  Nitze  holds 
that  the  clew  to  the  origin  of  the  story  is  to  be  found  in  the  Eleu- 
sinian  mysteries,  and  Miss  Weston  thus  expresses  herself:  "While 
admitting  the  value  of  much  of  Dr.  Nitze 's  work,  and  the  light  it 
has  thrown  on  certain  features  of  the  legend,  I  cannot  admit  that 
the  Eleusinian  cult  provides  us  with  as  satisfactory  an  explanation 
of  the  peculiar  features  and  incidents  of  the  Grail  story  as  may 
be  found  in  the  more  widely  diffused  Adonis  ritual."  * 

All  workers  in  the  Grail  material  may  well  be  grateful  for  the 
hght  the  research  connected  with  these  theories  has  thrown  on  it. 
It  is  particularly  helpful  that  so  many  apparently  irrelevant  de- 
tails in  the  narratives  are  explained  by  it.  But  one  may  wilhngly 
grant  that  there  are  many  elements  of  fertility  rites  preserved  in 
the  Grail  story  and  still  believe  that  these  elements  came  into  it 
through  the  medium  of  Christian  worship,  and  that  the  story- 
tellers were  absolutely  without  consciousness  as  to  their  origin.  I 
had  done  some  work  on  this  hypothesis  before  becoming  aware  of 
that  of  Miss  Peebles.  ^  She  has  carefully  considered  many  of  the 
points  in  which  I  am  interested,  especially  the  analogies  between 
the  Grail  ritual  and  the  early  liturgies  of  the  Christian  church. 
I  should,  however,  like  to  call  attention  to  additional  material 
which  seems  to  me  to  strengthen  her  arguments  and  may,  per- 
haps, bring  in  elements  untouched  by  her. 

It  should  be  noted,  in  the  first  place,  that  many  modern  historians 
of  the  eucharist  not  only  admit  its  connection  with  earlier  rites, 
but  even  rejoice  that  the  Christian  sacrament  was  at  once  the 
beginning  of  a  new  dispensation  and  the  fulfilment,  not  only  of 
the  law  and  the  prophets  of  the  Old  Testament,  but  also  of  the 

1  Vide  p.  39. 

-  Proceedings  of  the  Modern  Language  Association,  XXIV. 

'  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval  and  the  Qiiest  of  the  H.  G. 

*  Quest  of  the  H.  G.,  pp.  131  f. 

^  Legend  of  Longinus,  pp.  195-221. 


122  APPENDICES 

world-wide  ceremonies  which  expressed  the  aspiration  of  primi- 
tive man  to  share  in  the  perpetual  miracle  of  life.^ 

Coming  from  primitive  sacrifice  to  the  more  organized  rites  of 
the  Eleusinian  mysteries  we  find  them  also  recognized  as  fore- 
runners of  Christian  rites  and  ceremonies: 

"The  influence  of  the  mysteries,  and  of  the  rehgiou^  cults  which 
were  analogous  to  the  mysteries,  was  not  simply  general;  they 
modified  in  some  important  respects  the  Christian  sacraments  of 
baptism  and  the  eucharist."^ 

"It  seems  fair  to  infer  that,  since  there  were  great  changes  in  the 
ritual  of  the  sacraments,  and  since  the  new  elements  of  these 
changes  were  identical  with  elements  that  already  existed  in  cog- 
nate and  largely  diffused  forms  of  worship,  the  one  should  be 
due  to  the  other."  ^ 

Religious  ceremony  inherited  from  the  remote  past  of  the  race 
has,  as  a  rule,  a  double  history.    The  symbolism  by  which  man 

*  "When  the  eucharist  was  instituted  the  idea  of  communion  with 
God  by  means  of  a  sacred  meal  had  long  been  familiar.  Among  the 
Greeks  this  idea  underlay  the  mystic  food  and  drink  in  the  mysteries 
of  Eleusis.  All  over  the  world  this  has  furnished  the  highest  point  of 
savage  rites."  —  Darwell  Stone,  History  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  I:   2. 

The  question  is  also  considered  by  a  conservative  contemporary 
writer.  Bishop  Brent:  "In  order  that  we  may  arrive  at  the  simple 
meaning  which  contains  all  other  meanings,  let  us  consider  the  origin 
of  sacrificial  feasts  of  which  the  Holy  Communion  is  the  final  develop- 
ment. We  shall  not  think  solely  of  what  can  be  learned  from  a  study 
of  Jewish  sacrifices,  but  shall  include  what  has  been  revealed  by  a  study 
of  comparative  reUgions."  After  discussing  the  reUgious  use  of  meat 
as  food  he  says:  "Jesus  Christ  gathers  up  the  primitive  thoughts  of 
our  savage  untutored  ancestors  and  explains  them.  He  lays  hold  of 
their  gropings  in  the  dark  and  illumines  them."  —  The  Revelation  of 
Discovery,  pp.  100-102.  Vide  also  H.  C.  Trumbull,  The  Blood  Cove- 
nant, especially  pp.  271-293;  A.  C.  L.  Brown,  From  Cauldron  of 
Plenty  to  Grail,  Modern  Philology,  XIV:  7. 

^  Hatch,  The  Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the  Christian 
Church,  p.  294.    Cf.  also  A.  E.  J.  Rawlinson,  in  Foundations,  pp.  181-198. 

»  lb.,  p.  305. 


APPENDICES  123 

has  once  expressed  either  his  experience  or  his  aspirations  is  never 
lost,  but  in  varying  forms  and  modifications  still  answers  his  need. 
But  while  on  the  one  hand  it  amounts  with  him  to  the  highest 
flights  of  worship,  on  the  other  it  descends  into  the  pit  from  which 
it  was  digged  and  becomes  the  magic  rite,  the  charm,  the  taboo. 
The  ritual  of  the  eucharist  is  no  exception  to  this.  From  the  barest 
Lord's  Supper  to  the  Pontifical  High  Mass  it  is  the  great  cere- 
monial expression  of  man's  aspiration  to  God.  At  the  same  time 
it  has  been  reduced  to  the  service  of  sheer  superstition.^ 

That  features  derived  from  primitive  worship  were  conspicuous 
in  the  eucharistic  rites  of  the  early  British  church  is  more  than 
probable.^  That  the  Celtic  story  of  the  quest  for  a  vessel  of  in- 
crease, very  likely  itself  a  feature  of  early  agrarian  rites,  was 
colored  by  the  rites  of  a  more  or  less  corrupted  Christianity  may 
very  well  be  true.  Moreover,  there  is  no  doubt  whatever,  as  has 
just  been  said,  of  the  value  of  the  study  of  these  primitive  rites  in 
accounting  for  many  apparently  irrelevant  details  of  the  narra- 
tive. But  such  admissions  by  no  means  aUow  the  claim  that  there 
was  a  conscious  survival  of  fertihty  rites  of  which  the  Grail  legend 
is  a  record;  that  de  Borron  was  an  "initiate"  of  such  rites,  treat- 
ing his  subject  from  the  "inside,"  as  Miss  Weston  maintains;' 
nor  that  knowledge  of  any  such  illicit  ritual  accounts  for  the 
admitted  coldness  of  the  ecclesiastical  authorities  to  the  legend. 

^  For  example,  the  custom  in  some  parts  of  Germany  where  the 
priest,  with  the  host  suspended  from  his  neck  in  a  bag,  rode  around  the 
fields  on  Whitsunday  prajang  for  the  fertility  of  the  fields.  This  finds 
a  literary  expression: 

"In  villages  the  husbandmen  about  their  corne  doe  ride. 
With  many  Crosses,  Banners,  and  Sir  John  their  Priest  beside; 
—  Who  in  a  bag  about  his  necke  doth  beare  the  blessed  breade." 

Fourth  Booke  of  the  Popish  Kingdom  or  reigne  of  Antichrist  written 
in  Latine  verse  by  Thomas  Naogeorgus  (or  Kirschmeier)  and  englyshed 
by  Barnabe  Googe,  Anno  1570.  Caesarius  of  Heisterbach  (op.  cit.  IX: 
ix,)  gives  instances  of  the  use  of  the  host  as  a  charm.  He  tells  of  a 
woman  who,  desiring  to  improve  her  garden,  abstracted  a  host  at  the 
time  of  communion  and  buried  it  among  the  cabbages. 

*  Vid.  ut.  sup.,  p.  51.      Cf.  also  Miss  Peebles,  op.  cit.,  pp.  203-216. 

'  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  II :  279. 


124  APPENDICES 

As  to  this  last  point  it  may  be  said  that  it  is  not  at  all  surprising 
that  Norman  ecclesiastics  were  not  enthusiastic  about  the  Grail 
story.  They  were  heart  and  soul  in  favor  of  Roman  supremacy 
and  not  likely  to  approve  of  the  audacious  claim  that  Joseph  of 
Arimathea  brought  to  Britain  special  instructions  as  to  the  eu- 
charist.  Nor  would  they  at  all  care  for  the  implication  that  the 
special  usage  of  the  Celtic  church,  which  they  steadily  strove  to 
extirpate  with  such  success  that  we  cannot  be  at  all  sure  of  its 
exact  nature,  had  any  such  divine  authorization.  Neither  polit- 
ically nor  religiously  could  they  welcome  a  narrative  embodying 
any  such  claims. 

I  have  already  said  something  as  to  Miss  Weston's  points  con- 
cerning the  ceUbacy  of  Alain  ^  and  the  "secret"  of  the  Grail.^  I 
should  like,  in  conclusion,  to  add  a  rejoinder  to  her  assertion  that 
"no  Catholic  writer  of  the  twelfth  or  twentieth  century  would 
dare  to  transport  the  'Mystery  of  the  Mass'  to  a  banqueting  hall 
and  make  it  the  centre  of  a  roman  d'aventure:  there  are  things 
qui  ne  sefont  pas,  and  this  is  one  of  them."  ^ 

It  is  well  known  that  the  church  has  always  been  obhged  to 
restrict  very  carefully  the  privilege  of  celebrating  mass  in  private 
chapels  as  well  as  that  of  having  the  host  reserved  in  great  houses. 
The  use  of  portable  altars  was  limited  because  of  abuse  in  this  very 
direction.  Giraldus  Cambrensis  is  so  very  expUcit  as  to  where  mass 
may  be  said  as  to  make  it  evident  that  usage  in  this  respect  was 
very  loose  in  the  Welsh  marches.  *  But  there  is  incidental  evi- 
dence that,  from  the  romancer's  point  of  view,  there  was  nothing 
surprising  or  shocking  in  the  idea  of  having  the  reserved  host  in 
close  proximity  to,  if  not  actually  within  the  banqueting  hall. 
In  Perlesvaus  (XXXV:  iv),  the  hermits  march  into  the  royal  hall 
in  white  garments  with  a  red  cross  on  the  breast.  As  soon  as  they 
enter  "il  annorerent  Deu  nostre  Seingnor  et  batirent  lor  coupes." 
They  beat  their  breasts,  "mea  culpa,  mea  maxima  culpa,"  the 
gesture  of  utter  humility  and  unworthiness  before  the  host,  made 
also  by  Arthur  when  he  was  privileged  to  see  the  child  on  the  altar 
at  mass  (ib.,  I:vi),  and  "comman^a  Dieu  a  proier  et  k  battre  sa 
coupe."    It  was  God  our  Lord  in  the  host  Who  was  thus  honored, 

1  Ut  sup.,  p.  74.  »  Op  ciL,  p.  300  n. 

^   Ut  sup.,  p.  65.  *  Gemma  EccL,  I :  vii. 


APPENDICES  125 

but  the  romancer  evidently  had  no  feeling  of  irreverence  in  intro- 
ducing this  custom  into  his  narrative;  nor  is  there  good  reason  to 
suppose  there  would  have  been  any  more  hesitation  in  utilizing  for 
literary  purposes  a  more  elaborate  ceremonial  centring  in  eucharis- 
tic  devotion. 

III.  THE  RELICS  OF  JOSEPH  OF  ARIMATHEA 
REMOVED  FROM  MOIENMOUTIERS  ^ 

Tempore  KaroU  Magni,  vir  quidam  venerabilis,  Fortunatus 
nomine,  patriarcha  Hierosolymitanus,  corpus  S.  Josephi  decuri- 
onis,  sepultoris  domini,  paganos  qui  tunc  terram  sanctam  vasta- 
bunt  fugiens,  apportavit  et  ad  Medianum  monasterium  deveniens, 
ibidem  cum  ipsis  reliquiis  se  coUocavit.  Sed  postmodum,  ipsum 
sancti  corpus,  per  insolentiam  canonicorum  qui  ilium  locum  possi- 
derunt,  a  quibusdam  monachis  peregrinis  noctu  furatum,  asporta- 
tum  est,  Et  ita  illud  monasterium  taU  est  thesauro  viduatum. 
Richer,  Senon.  mon.  chronicon.  II:  6;  cit.,  P.  Paris,  Romania,  I:  457. 


IV.  THE  DISCOVERY  OF  ARTHUR'S  TOMB  AT 
GLASTONBURY  2 

Ad  ann.  1193,  de  corpore  Arthur!  magni  dicitur  quod  circa  hunc 
annum  sit  inventum  in  Anglia  in  insula  Avalonis  ubi  est  Abbatia 
sancti  Dunstani  Glastonia  vulgariter  dicta  ad  sanctum  Petrum 
de  Glastemberin,  Batoniensis  diocesis,  et  hoc  factum  est  per  indus- 
triam  cujusdam  monachi  ejusdem  ecclesise  novi  Abbatis  qui  totum 
cimiterium  loci  diUgenter  excavando  fecit  investigari,  animatus 
verbis,  quae  ohm  (adhuc)  monachus  audiverat  ab  ore  Henrici 
patris  Richardi,  et  inventa  est  tumba  lapidea  in  profundo  terrae 
defossa,  super  quam  lamina  plumbea  quibusdam  versibus  erat 
insignata 

Hie  jacet  Arturus,  flos  Regum  gloria  Regni, 

Quern  probitas  morum  commendat  laude  perenni; 

Hie  jacet  Arturus  Britonum  rex  ultor  inultus. 

Alberic  des  Trois  Fontaines,  cit.  San  Marte,  Essay,  p.  17. 

»  Vide  p.  49.  *  Vide  p.  49. 


126  APPENDICES 


V.  THE  EARLIEST  KNOWN  USE  OF  THE  WORD 
"  TRANSUBSTANTIATION  " ' 

The  text  is  Hosea  XII:  10.  In  vianihus  prophetarum  assimila- 
tus  sum.  The  following  passage  occurs  towards  the  end:  "Cum 
intro  ad  altare  Dei,  spectaculum  f actus  sum  Deo,  et  angeUs,  et 
hominibus;  si  poUutus  sto  carne  et  spiritu,  quam  abominabilis 
sum!  Attendamus.  Antiochus  Epiphanes  idolum  posuit  in  templo 
Domini,  obquam  abominationem  non  licuit  sacrificare  in  templo 
donee  initiatum  fuerit.  In  hunc  modum,  si  fuero  vas  incontinen- 
tiae  et  libidinis,  in  altari  juxta  fiUum  Virginis  statuo  filium  Veneris. 
Cum  profero  verba  Canonis,  et  verbum  transubstationis,  et  os 
meum  plenum  est  contradictione,  et  amaritudine,  et  dolo,  quamvis 
eum  honorem  labiis,  tamen  spuo  in  faciem  Salvatoris.  Cum 
prsesumo  sumere  Dominum  meum,  et  panem  in  os  meum  sic 
poUutum,  levius  est  in  projicerem  eum  in  lutum  platearum.  Ita- 
que  mundamini,  qui  fertis  vasa  Domini;  mundamini  qui  refertis 
verba  Domini;  qui  offertis  hostiam  Domini;  mundamini,  qui  defertis 
aliis  corpus  Domini,  ut  mundati  quod  nunc  simiUtudine  geritis,  quan- 
doque  rerum  veritate  capiatis. 

Hildebert  of  Lavardin,  Sermones  de  diver  sis,  VI. 
Migm,  CLXXI:  772. 


VI.  ARTHUR  SEES  A  CHILD  ON  THE  ALTAR 

AT  MASS  2 

At  ubi  incepit  dictus  senex  Missam,  et  venit  usque  ad  ofifer- 
torium,  statim  benigna  Domina  filium  sacerdoti  obtulit.  Sacerdos 
vero  eum  collocavit  super  corporale,  juxta  calicem.  Cum  autem 
prevenisset  ad  immolationem  hostiae,  id  est,  ad  verba  Dominica, 
Hoc  est  enim  corpus  meum,  elevavit  eundem  puerum  in  manibus 
suis.  Rex  vero  Arthurus  stans  ad  sacramentum  illud  Dominicum, 
immo  vere  ipsum  Dominum,  suppUciter  adorabat. 

Johannis  Glastoniensis,  Chronica  sive  Historia  de  Rebus 
Glastoniensibus,  ed.  The.  Hearnius.      Oxonii,  1716.      1:79. 

1  Vide  p.  70.  ^  yi^  p.  77. 


APPENDICES  127 

VI.  THE  CHRIST  OF  ST.  GREGORY  ^ 

II  uit  celui  homme  crucefije  en  la  crois  que  li  angeles  tenoit  et 
les  cleus  quil  auoit  ueu  tenir  al  autre  angele  li  estoient  es  pies  et 
es  mains  et  la  che[i]nture  quil  auoit  entor  lui  si  sambloit  bien  a 
icele  eure  home  qui  fust  en  angoisse  de  mort.  Apres  regarda 
ioseph[e]  que  la  lance  quil  auoit  ueue  tenir  al  tiers  angele  estoifc 
fichie  parmi  le  cors  al  homme  crucefie  si  en  degoutoit  contreual  la 
hanste  vns  ruissiaus  qui  nestoit  ne  tout  sane  ne  tout  aigue  ne 
porquant  si  sambloit  ce  a  estre  sane  et  aigue.  Et  desous  ses  pies 
au  crucefijet  iut  icele  escuele  que  iosephses  peires  auoit  eportee  en 
larche  si  U  estoit  auis  que  li  sans  des  pies  al  crucefije  degoutoit  en 
cele  escuele. 

Grand  St.  Graal,  ed.  Sommer,  pp.  32,  33. 

Lors  regardant  li  compaignon  et  voQ]ent  issir  del  vaissel  .j. 
home  qui  auoit  les  mains  sanglentes  et  les  pies  et  le  cors  si  lor  dist. 
Mi  cheualier  et  mi  seriant  et  mi  fil  loial  qui  en  ceste  mortel  vie  estes 
deuenu  esperitel  vous  maues  tant  quis  que  iou  ne  me  puis  plus 
vers  vous  celer  si  conuient  que  vous  vees  partie  de  mes  repostailles 
et  de  mes  secres. 

Queste,  ed.  Sommer,  p.  190. 

Atant  ez-vous  les  deus  damoiseles  qui  reviennent  devent  la 
table  et  senble  a  monseignor  Gauvain  qu'il  an  avoit  III  et  es- 
garde  contremont  et  li  sanble  estre  U  Graaus  touz  an  char,  et 
voit  par  deseure,  ce  li  est  avis,  un  roi  couronne,  clofichi^  an  une 
croiz,  et  U  estoit  li  glaives  fichiez  el  cost6. 

Perlesvaus,  VI:  xx 


VIII.  THE  MYSTIC  VISION  IN  THE  GRAIL  ^ 

Li  preudons  .  .  .  commencha  la  messe.  Et  quant  il  ot  faite  sa 
beneichon  si  prent  corpus  domini  et  fait  signe  a  bohort  quil  viegne 
auant.  Et  il  si  fait  sagenoille  deuant  lui.  Et  quant  il  i  est  venus 
li  preudons  U  dist .  bohort  vols  tu  ce  que  ie  tieng  .  Sire  fait  il  oi  bien. 
Je  voi  que  vous  tones  mon  salueor  et  ma  redemption  en  samblance 

1  Vide  p.  79.  ^  vide  p.  82. 


128  APPENDICES 

de  pain.  Et  en  tel  maniere  nel  viesse  ie  mie.  Mais  mi  oeil  sont 
si  terrien  quil  ne  peuent  veoir  les  espirituels  choses  (ne  il)  nel  me 
laissent  (autrement)  veoir  ains  me  tolent  la  vraie  samblance. 
Car  de  ce  ne  dout  ie  mie  (que  ce  ne  soit)  \Taie  chars  et  vrais  homs 
et  enterriene  deites.    lors  commencha  a  plorer  trop  durement. 

Queste,  ed.  Sommer,^p.  119,  120. 

Et  quant  il  ot  este  grant  piece  a  ienols  si  se  leua  et  commencha 
la  messe  de  la  glorieuse  meire  dieu  .  et  quant  il  vint  el  secre  de  la 
mes(s)e  .  et  il  ot  ostee  la  platine  de  desus  Ie  saint  veissel  si  apela 
galaad  et  li  dist  .  vien  auant  serians  ihesu  crist  .  si  verras  ce  que 
tu  as  tant  desire  a  veoir.  Et  il  se  traist  auant  et  regarde  deuant 
(dedens)  Ie  saint  vaissel  et  si  tost  comme  il  ot  .  j.  foi  regarde  si 
commencha  a  trambler  moult  durement  si  tost  comme  la  mortels 
char  commencha  a  regarder  les  esperitels  choses.  Lors  tent  galaad 
ses  mains  vers  Ie  ciel  si  dist  .  Sire  toi  crie  iou  merci  quant  tu  mas 
acompli  mon  voloir.  Car  or  voi  iou  tout  apertement  ce  que  langue 
ne  poroit  dire  ne  cuers  penser.  Ici  voi  iou  locoison  de  proeces  et 
les  merueilles  de  toutes  les  autres  .  et  puis  quil  est  ensi  bials  dous 
sires  que  vos  maues  acompli  mes  voloirs  de  veoir  ce  que  iai  tos 
lors  desire. 

lb.,  p.  197. 

IX.  DATE  OF  THE  CORPUS  CHRISTI  PROCESSION 
ACCORDING  TO  CATALANS 

viii.  De  eo  tandem  quod  Grancolas  scribit,  delatam  in  Gallia 
primum  post  annum  MCCC  Eucharistiam  in  solemn!  processione 
fuisse,  videri  potest  eruditissimus  Lupus,  Tomo  XI,  Operum  edi- 
tionis  Venetae  in  Dissertatione  De  scicris  Processionibus,  Cap.  Ill, 
ubi  fuse  ostendit  Urbanum  IV.  Processionem  licet  non  praeceperat, 
omnino  tamen  probasse,  ac  in  ItaUa  inchoasse. 

ix.  Sed  ut  hanc  rem  uberius  nos  prosequamur,  tametsi  nonnuUi 
addubitent,  an  ab  Urbano  simul  cum  ipso  Festo  sanctissimi  Sacra- 
menti  instituta  fuerit  processio,  quia  scihcet  de  ilia  ab  Urbano  in 
sua  Constitutione  nulla  fiat  mentio,  probabilius  est,  quod  Clarissimi 
Auctores  docent,  utrique  solemnitatis  auctorem  fuisse,  quippe  cum 
publica  processio  ex  communi  Ecclesiae  usu  ad  Festi  solemnitatem 

^  Vide  p.  95. 


APPENDICES  129 

pertineat,  ut  docet  Jacobus  Eveillon  in  Libro,  De  processionibus 
Ecclesiasticis,  Capite  XVIII.  Urbano  quidem  in  ipsa  institutione 
ea  mens  fuit,  ut  omni  genere  solemnitatis,  et  plene,  ut  loquitur, 
hoc  festum  celebraretur.  Et  certe  plausus  ille  populorum,  et 
publica  omnium  ordinum  tripudatio,  exultatio,  et  jubilatio,  quae 
in  celebratione  hujus  festi  commemorantur  a  laudato  Pontifice, 
non  seque  videntur  posse  convenire  divinis  Officiis,  quae  statarie, 
ut  ajunt,  in  Choro  a  solis  Clericis  canuntur,  ac  pompae  ipsi  proces- 
sionis;  et  in  sola  evectione  Sanctissimi  Sacramenti,  quae  fit  pro- 
cedendo per  vias,  et  loca  publica,  cernitur  imago  triumphi  illius 
Christi,  cujus  causa  ipsemet  Institutor  Urbanus,  et  Tridentini 
Concilii  Patres  Sessione  XIII  Cap.  v.  dicunt  institutum  fuisse 
hoc  festum  ad  confundendam  speciaUter  haereticorum  perfidiam, 
atque  insaniam. 

X.  Sunt  quidem  in  hac  sententia,  non  modo  memoratus  Lupus, 
et  Jacobus  Eveillon  in  laudato  Libro,  Cap.  XXV.  verum  etiam 
Joannes  Luziardus  in  Epitome  Historice  universalis,  Cap. 
CCXXXIII,  Hermanus  Scheder  in  Chronicis  in  VI  aetate  mundi, 
Philippus  Bergomas  in  supplemento  Chronicorum,  Onuphrius  Pan- 
vinius  in  Additionibus  ad  Platinam  in  Vita  Urhani  IV,  Fredericus 
Nausea  in  Catechismo  Catholico  Lib.  VI,  Capit  XXXVIII.  Joannes 
Molanus  in  Natalibus  Sanctorum  Belgii  die  v  Aprilis,  Alphonsus 
Ciaconius  in  Vitis  Pontificum,  ubi  agit  de  Urbano  IV.  Henricus 
Spondanus  in  continuatione  Annalium  Cardinalis  Baronii  anno 
Christi  MCCLXIV  et  alii,  qui  docent,  Urbanum  IV  Romanum 
Pontificem  Maximum  instituisse  solemnitatem  Corporis  Christi 
cum  Processionibus,  et  Octavis  a  cunctis  fidelibus  celebrari. 

Catalan!,  Pontificale  Romxinum,  Vol.  II:31L 

X.  EUCHARISTIC  PROCESSIONS  ^ 

(a)  Palm  Sunday 

Cantata  tertia  legatur  Evangelium  Turba  multa.  Postea  acce- 
dens  abbas,  aut  sacerdos,  benedicat  palmas,  et  flores  et  frondes 
ante  majus  altare  supra  tapetum  posita,  acqua  benedicta  aspergat, 
et  incenset.  Accedentes  secretarii  distribuant  ea,  palmas  abbati, 
et  prioribus,  et  personis  honestioribus,  flores  et  frondes  caeteris. 

^  Vide  p.  96. 


130  APPENDICES 

Interim  cantore  incipiente,  cantatur  antiphona  Pueri  Hebroeorum 
et  alia,  Pueri  Hebroeorum.  His  ita  expletis  profiscatur  processio, 
cantore  incipiente  quae  ad  banc  processionem  cantari  oportet. 
Qua  de  choro  exeunte,  pulsentur  omnia  signa.  Praecedant  famuli 
cum  vexillis,  sequatur  conversus  (j.  novitius),  ferens  situlam  cum 
acqua  benedicta,  alii  duo  portantes  duas  cruces;  item  duo  cum 
duobus  candelabris  accensis  desuper  cereis,  alii  duo  ferentes  duo 
thuribula  igne  et  thure  referta.  .  .  .  Ipse  enim  distribuit  quae 
portanda  sunt,  et  processionem  ordinat.  Hos  sequantur  duo 
subdiaconi  portantes  duos  textus  EvangeUorum.  Post  quos  laici 
monachi,  deinde  infantes  cum  magistris.  Post  quos  caeteri  fratres 
prsecedentes  abbatem  qui  ultimos  procedit,  duo  et  duo,  sicut  sunt 
priores. 

Hsec  sunt  quae  ad  banc  processionem  cantanda  sunt,  vel  omnia, 
vel  quantum  permiserit  spatium  loci  quo  ituri  sunt;  Ante  sex  dies: 
Cum  appropinquaret,  Prima  autem  azymorum,  Dominus  Jesus, 
Cogitaverunt,  Cum  audisset  populus,  omnes  collaudent.  Cum 
autem  preventum  fuerit  ad  ipsum  locum,  fiat  statio  a  toto  con- 
ventu.  Cantore  autem  incipiente  antiphonam  Occurrunt  turbce, 
exeant  duo  sacerdotes  albis  induti,  qui  portent  feretrum,  quod 
parum  ante  diem  ab  eisdem  sacerdotibus  illuc  debet  esse  delatum, 
in  quo  et  corpus  Christi  esse  debet  reconditum.  Ad  quod  fere- 
tnun  praecedant  statim  qui  vexilla  portant  et  cruces  et  caetera  quae 
superius  dicta  sunt.  Et  stantibus  iis  qui  feretrum  portant, 
stabunt  et  ipsi  a  dextra  et  a  sinistra  ipsius  feretri,  ordinate 
sicut  venerunt.  Pueri  vero  accedentes  stabunt,  versis  vultibus 
ad  ipso  reliquos,  cum  magistris  suis  et  quibusdam  cantoribus  qui 
auxilio  eis  esse  possunt.  Majores  vero  versi  erunt  ad  invicem,  eo 
modo  quo  in  choro  stare  solent.  Sic  autem  ordinetur  haec  statio, 
ut  modicum  intervaUium  sit  inter  pueros  et  majorem  conventum. 
Finita  antiphona  occurrunt  turbae,  incipiant  pueri  et  qui  cum  eis 
sunt  antiphonam  Hosanna  filio  David  flectentes  genua  et  in  prin- 
cipio,  et  in  fine  antiphonse,  quia  in  utroque  Hosanna  dicitur.  Quam 
antiphonam  chorus  repetat,  et  similiter  genua  flectat.  Deinde  a 
pueris  cantetur  antiphona  cum  angelis,  in  fine  tantum  antiphonae 
genua  flectentibus.  Quae  antiphona  a  conventu  repetatur  et 
simiUter  venia  accipiatur. 

TaUter  his  peractis,  abbate  vel  cantore  incipiente  antiphonam 


APPENDICES  131 

Ave,  rex  noster,  transeant  portitores  feretri  per  medium  stationis, 
praecedentibus  his  qui  vexilla  portant,  et  caeteris  superius  dictis 
portitoribus,  servato  ab  omnibus  ordine  in  redeundo  quem  habue- 
runt  in  eundo.  Quibus  transeuntibus  flectent  genua,  non  simul 
omnes,  sed  singuli  hinc  et  inde,  sicut  feretrum  transibit  ante  eos. 
Percantata  hac  antiphona,  cantent  et  alia,  si  spatium  loci  plura 
poposcerit.  Cum  venerint  ad  portas  civitatis  stationem  faciant, 
separatis  ab  invicem,  prout  locus  patietur,  utrisque  lateribus, 
feretrum  vero  ante  introitum  portarum  sic  ponatur  super  mensam 
pallio  coopertam  ut  prsedicti  portitores,  ex  utroque  latere  stantes, 
habeant  ad  feretrum  in  medio  eorum  positum  versas  facies  suas. 
Locus  vero  super  introitum  portarum  honeste  debet  este  paratus, 
et  cortinis  (aulseis  seu  tapetibus)  et  dorsalibus. 

Taliter  ordinata  statione,  canant  pueri  de  loco  apto,  et  qui 
praecepto  cantoris  cum  eis  erunt  Gloria  laus,  et  similiter  chorus 
respondeat.  Pueri,  Israel  es  tu  Rex  et  chorus,  Cui  'puerile  decus; 
item  pueri,  Plebs  Hebrcea  tibi,  et  chorus,  Cui  puerile,  item  pueri, 
Coetus  in  excelsis,  et  chorus  Gloria  laus.  His  dictis  inchoet 
cantor  responsorium  Ingrediente  Domine;  et,  ingrediente  civita- 
tem  processione,  duo  majora  signa  pulsentur,  donee  caetera 
signa,  processione  intrante  in  chorum,  pulsentur  ad  missam.  Sic 
ordinata  processio,  veniens  usque  ante  portas  monasterii,  faciat 
stationem,  servantibus  pueris  ordinem  suum  inter  utrumque 
chorum,  Deponatur  iterum  feretrum  super  mensam  paUio  co- 
opertam. Cantor  vero  sic  antea  incoeptum  habeat  responsorium 
Collegerunt  pontificies  ut  tunc  prope  cantum  sit;  quo  cantato 
tres  aut  quattuor  fratres,  induti  cappis  quas  secretarius  ibi  paratas 
habeat,  canant  versum  Unus  autem  ex  ipsis,  stantes  inter  chorum 
et  rehquias.  Quo  finito,  cum  regressu  intrent  ecclesiam,  cantore 
inchoante  antiphonam  Principeo,  et  aUam  Appropinquabat.  Et 
ingressi  Ecclesiam  faciant  stationem  per  omnia  similem  ante  Cru- 
cifixum  prius  detectum.  Atque  ibi  a  tribus  vel  quatuor  fratribus 
cantetur  in  cappis  responsorium  Circumdederunt.  Quo  cantato 
incipiat  abbas  responsorium  Synagogce,  et  intrent  chorum  sonan- 
tibus  ad  missam  signis,  missam  celebrent,  palmas  et  frondes  in 
manibus  habeant,  easque  post  oblationem  panis  et  vini,  ineipiente 
diacono,  cuncti  per  ordinem  offerant. 

Lanfranc,  Decreti  pro  ordine  S.  Benedicti,  Migne,  CL,  455  ff. 


132  APPENDICES 

(6)  In  Connection  with  the  Easter  Sepvlchre 

Processio  cum  eucharistia  ante,  vel  post  nocturnas  Paschalis 
vigilias. 

viii.  Ab  hoc  ritu  baud  multum  absimilis  est  processio  SS.  Sacra- 
menti  quam  ita  descriptam  exhibet  Ordinarium  insignis  Ecclesise 
Laudunensis:  (In  die  Paschae  ad  matutiniun  duae  magnae  campanae 
de  miraculis  insimul  pulsantur.  Processio  vadit  ad  sepulchrum 
ordinata  in  modura  qui  sequitur.  Primo  praecedit  clericulus 
aquam  benedictam  deferens,  hunc  sequuntur  duo  clericuli  ferentes 
cereos:  duo  alii  clericuli  cappis  sericis  induti  ferentes  duas 
cruces  aureas,  hos  sequuntur  clericuli.  Deinde  cantor  et  suc- 
centor  cappis  sericis  induti,  portantes  baculos  deargentatos  in 
manibus.  Deinde  duo  diaconi  similiter  cappis  sericis  induti, 
pallium  supra  brachium  tenentes.  Hos  sequuntur  alii  combinati: 
unusquisque  cereum  accensum  deferens.  Praedicti  vero  diaconi 
ad  ostium  sepulcri  venientes  incipiunt  ardens  est.  Clericulus 
stans  in  sepulcro  respondet  Qvem  quoeritis?  Diaconi  Jesum 
Nazdrenuni.  Clericulus  Nan  est  hie.  Postea  cantor  et  succentor 
incipiunt  Surrexit  Dominus  vere  alleluja.  Deinde  psal.  Victimm 
Paschali  laudes.  Et  sic  cantando  procedunt  ante  crucifixum  in 
medio  Ecclesiae,  sacerdos  alba  casula  vestitus,  portans  calicem  cum 
Corpore  Christi,  egrediens  de  sepulcro  reperit  ante  ostium  quatuor 
subdiaconos,  albis  tunicis  indutos,  pallium  super  baculum  tollentes, 
et  illo  protectus  incedit  in  fine  processionis,  prsecedentibus  duobus 
clericulis  cum  cereis,  et  aliis  duobus  juxta  ipsum  cum  thuribulis. 
Dum  autem  processio  pervenerit  in  medio  Ecclesiae,  cantor  et 
succentor  incipiunt  ^  Christus  resurgens.  Duo  diaconi  cantant  v 
Dicant  nunc.  Quo  cantato,  processio  intrat  chorum  cantando 
Quod  enim  vivit.  Sacerdos  calicem  super  altare  deponit.  Interim 
campanae  simul  pulsantur,  Episcopus  stans  in  cathedra  mitra  et 
cappa  prseparatus  incipit  Domine  labia  mea  aperies.) 

ix.  Hie  ritus  Corporis  Christi  cum  solemni  pompa  hac  die  in 
processione  deferendi  non  uni  fuit  Laudunentis  Ecclesiae  singularis, 
sed  multis  etiam  aliis  communis,  ut  Suessionensi  et  Remensi, 
apud  quam  tam  in  cathedrali  B.  Mariae,  quam  in  monachorum 
S.  Remigii  basilica  adhuc  hodie  viget.  Viget  etiam  nunc  in  Ecclesia 
Aurelianensi  et  apud  Armoricos  in  Rotonensi  monasterio.    Illiua 


APPENDICES  133 

praxim  videre  est  in  Vita  S.  Udalrici  Augustensis  Episcopi,  in 
cujus  capite  4,  hsec  lego:  (Desiderantissimo  atque  sanctissimo  Pas- 
chali  die  adveniente,  post  Primam  intravit  Ecclesiam  S.  Ambrosi, 
ubi  die  Parasceve  Corpus  Christi  superposito,  lapide  collocavit, 
ibique  cum  paucis  clericis  missam  de  Sancta  Trinitate  explevit. 
Expleta  autem  missa,  clerum  interim  congregatum,  in  scena 
juxta  eamdem  Ecclesiam  sitam  solemnissimis  vestibus  indutum 
antecisset,  secum  portato  Corpore  Christi,  et  evangelic,  et  cereis, 
et  incenso,  et  cum  congrua  salutatione  versum  a  pueris  decantata, 
per  atrium  perrexit  ad  Ecclesiam  S.  Joannis  Baptistse.)  In  per- 
vetusto  etiam  libro  rituali  Parthenonsis  Pictaviensis  S.  Crucis  haec 
reperio:  (In  prima  vigilia  noctis  Paschse  duo  presbyteri  revestiti 
cmn  cappis  pergunt  ad  sepulchrum.  .  .  .  Inde  elevatur  et  defer- 
tur  Corpus  Dominicum  ad  majus  altare,  prsecedentibus  cereis  et 
thuribulis,  et  pulsantibus  signis.) 

Martene,  Ec.  RiL,  Lib.  IV;    Cap.  XXV. 


XI.  THE  INTROIT  AND  ITS  RITUAL 
SIGNIFICANCE  ^ 

At  high  (or  sung)  mass  till  quite  lately  the  rule  had  obtained 
that  the  choir  did  not  begin  the  Introit  till  the  celebrant  began 
the  first  prayers  at  the  foot  of  the  altar.  Now  the  new  Vatican 
"Gradual"  (1908)  has  restored  the  old  principle,  that  it  is  to  be 
sung  while  the  procession  moves  from  the  sacristy  to  the  altar. 

A.  Fortescue,  Cath.  Enc,  Art.  Introit. 

De  introitu  et  processione  ministrorum 

Sacerdote  ad  altare  ingressuro  debet  tota  praesens  Ecclesia  dila- 
tare  an  imam  suam,  et  amplioris  fidei  sinu  memoriam  incarnationis 
tenere,  et  sanctorum  qui  eum  ab  initio  mundi  exspectaverunt, 
et  ejus  adventum  suspiriis,  laudibus  atque  precibus  expetierunt 
memor  esse,  et  eorum  contemplatione  in  voces  erumpere  praeci- 
nendo  Antiphonam  quse  dicitur  Ad  introitum.  Nam  sicut  In- 
troitus    sacerdotis,    ingressum  Fihi    Dei  in  mundum  hunc,  sic 

1  Vide  p.  102. 


134  APPENDICES 

Antiphona  quse  dicitur  Ad  inlroitum,  voces  et  exspectationem 
prajfert  patriarcharum  et  prophetarum.  In  Proccssione  quse 
significatae  rei  aptissime  congruit,  praecedunt  flammantes  cerei, 
in  signum  et  memoriara  quod  per  adventum  Christi  sedentifrus 
in  regione  umbrce  mortis  lux  orta  est  eis.  (Isa.  II.)  Praeveniunt 
sacerdotes  ministri  duo,  non  pariter  neque  a  latere  incessum  cose- 
quantes,  sed  ante  subdiaconus.  Significant  hi  duo  Vetus  et  Novum 
Testamentum,  sive  utriusque  praedicatores,  quorum  lex  prior  est 
tempore,  dignitate  vero  posterior. 

Hugo  of  St.  Victor,  De  ojficiis  ecclesiasticiis,  II :  xiv, 
Migne,  CLXXVII:419. 

Turba  prophetarum  venturi  nuntia  Christi, 

Mysterium  fertur  praecinuisse  crucis. 
Hunc  desideriis,  hunc  laudibus,  hunc  prece  multa 

Praesuspiravit,  extuUt,  expetiit, 
Haec  tria  commemorat,  similique  sub  ordine  ponit 

Introitus  missae,  quem  chorus  ante  canit. 

Hildebert  of  Lavardin,  De  mysterio,  missce  Migne,  CLXXI:  1177. 


XII.  GERMAN  VERNACULAR  VERSE  i 
(a)  The  Virgin  compared  to  a  vessel  of  the  eucharist. 

ich  bin  diu  arche  in  alter  e, 

lustic  geziert:  nu  merkent  me, 

dar  inne  ein  guldin  eimer  hienc 

kostpaere  und  himmelbrot  dar  inne : 

dar  zuo  der  bischof  selber  gienc 

viirz  vole  in  guotem  sinne, 

da  Arones  gerte  lac, 

die  taveln,  der  gebote  bejac: 

daz  bin  ich  unde  gotes  zent. 

beslozzen  in  mir  din  sacrament 

sint  glich  und  ouch  vil  schone  verborgen. 

Meisterlieder,  ed.  Bartsch,  VI.  U.  200  f.  (p.  210). 
1  Vide  p.  110. 


APPENDICES  135 

(6)  The  Virgin  compared  to  the  Grail, 

Ich  bin  der  siuberliche  Gral, 

da  mite  der  edel  Parcival 

niect  sin  vinde  hin  zetal, 

sin  wunne  lane  breit,  sorge  smal, 

sin  fride  an  ende  st^te. 

76.,  VI,  11.  241  ff.  (p.  211). 
Wer  ledt  mich  in  der  liljen  tal 
da  min  amis  kurtois  sich  tougen  in  verstal? 
ich  binz  der  sal 

A 

dar  in  man  daz  gesprseche  nam  lunbe  Even  val. 

schdne  ich  daz  hal. 

seht,  Ueben  seht: 

min  morgenrcete  hdt  erwecket  hohen  sane  und  richen  schal, 

den  niuwen  tac  der  alten  naht, 

ich  binz  der  gral 

da  mit  der  eren  kiinc  den  leiden  iibervaht. 

Frauenlob,  Marienleich,  ed.  PfannmiiUer,  XI,  U.  20  ff.  (p.  59). 

Du  warer  godis  stamme  mtiter  dochter  vnd  aname, 
du  bist  der  hcest  gral! 

dort  in  dem  hemelriche  wonstu  junffrau  lobeliche, 
din  wesen  ist  in  got! 

Lieder  Mxiskatblut's,  ed.  von  Groote,  p.  62. 

(c)  The  lady  love  compared  to  the  Grail. 

Diu  (geUebte)  was  sines  herzen  gral. 

Ulrich  V.  Tiirheim,  Willehalm,  197.    Cit.  Lexers, 
Mittelhochd.  Hanworter,  art.  gral. 

Traut  sehg  weib 
selden  sehen  liberal 
tort  mir  der  synne  zal, 
seyd  mich  ztimal 
deines  leibes  sal, 
gral 
werffen  wil  ziital. 
Oswald  V.  Wolkenstein,  Die  Gedichte,  ed.  Weber, 
LXXVI:2,  U.  1-7.  (p.  192). 


136  APPENDICES 


Ich  hor  vil  suesser  voglein  don 
in  meinem  haubt  erklingen  schon 
von  oben  abher  gar  zti  tal, 
das  sich  mein  hertz  erwecket. 
Gen  dir,  vil  auserbeltes  ain, 
ich  hoff,  dii  Idst  mich  nit  allain, 
se5rt  dii  n<i  pist  mein  hochster  gr^l, 
der  alios  laid  verdecket. 

lb.,  XXXIV:  2,  U.  1-8  (p.  128). 


XIII.  THE  EARTHLY  PARADISE,  A  TYPE  OF 
THE  CHURCH! 

Plantaverat  autem  Dominus  Deus  paradisum  vvlwptatis  a  prin- 
cipio.  Paradisus  Ecclesia  est;  sic  enim  de  ilia  legitur  in  Canticis 
canticorum:  Hortus  conclusus  soror  mea.  (Cant.  IV:  12.)  A 
principio  autem  paradisus  plantatur,  quia  Ecclesia  catholica  a 
Christo,  qui  est  principium  omnium,  condita  esse  cognoscitur. 
Fluvius  de  paradiso  exiens  imaginem  portat  Christi,  de  paterno 
fonte  fluentis,  qui  irrigat  Ecclesiam  suam  verbo  predicationis,  et 
dono  baptismi. 

Isidore  of  Seville,  In  Genesin,  III:  2.     Migne,  LXXXIII:  216. 

De  tribus  paradisis,  et  comparatione  trium  lignorum 
qvjce  sunt  in  eis 

Tres  sunt  paradisi.  Unum  terrestris,  cujus  incola  fuit  primus 
Adam  terrenus.  Secundus  fideUs,  quod  est  Ecclesia  sanctorum, 
quam  fundavit  et  inhabitat  secundus  Adam  coelestis,  id  est  Christus. 
Tertius  ccslestis,  qui  est  regnum  Dei,  et  vita  seterna,  et  terra  viven- 
tium,  vel  potius  terra  vivens  in  qua  habitat  Deus.  In  primo  para- 
diso lignum  vitae  est  arbor  materialis.  In  secundo  lignum 
vitse  est  humanitas  Salvatoris.  In  tertio  hgnum  vitse  est  sapientia 
Dei,  verbum  Patris,  fons  vitse,  et  origo  boni  et  hsec  est  vera 
vita  seterna.  Nunc  veniamus  ad  comparationem.  Certe  lignum 
vitse,  quod  erat  in  paradiso  terrestri,  corporalem  solummodo 
vitam  sine  defectu  vegetare  potuit.    Lignum  autem  vitse  fidelis 

1  Vide  p.  114. 


APPENDICES  137 

paradisi,  id  est  Jesus  Christus  manducantibus  carnem  suam,  et 
bibentibus  sanguinem  suum  vitam  aeternam  repromittit,  et  tamen 
idem  ipse  exprimere  volens  quantum  distaret  sacramentum  a  vir- 
tute,  ait:  Corpus  nihil  prodest,  spiritus  est  qui  vivificat.  (Joan  VI.) 
Quasi  diceretur:  Si  me  corporaliter  in  Sacramento  sumitis,  non  hoc 
vobis  sufficere  credatis,  nisi  etiam  me  quemadmodum  verbum 
vitse  sum  illuminans  animas,  justificans  peccatores,  et  mortuos 
vivificans  spiritualiter  edere  dediceritis. 

Hugh  of  St,  Victor,  De  area  Noe  Morali,  III :  xvii. 
Migne,  CLXXVI:646. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

This  bibliography  is  necessarily  far  from  exhaustive.  It  is  merely  a 
list  of  the  books  which  have  been  most  useful  in  the  preparation 
of  this  study. 

GENERAL 

Du  Cange:  Glossarium  Mediae  et  Infimce  Latinitatis. 
The  Catholic  Encydopcedia.  (New  York,  1907-1914) 
Dictionnaire  de  theologie  catholique,  Vacant  et  Mangenot.    (Paris, 

1909-1913) 
The  Encydopcedia  of  Religion  and  Ethics,  ed.   James  Hastings, 

(New  York,  1908-1916) 
The  Jewish  Encyclopedia.      (New  York,  1901-1905) 
Patrologice  Grcecoe   (Paris,  1854-1866);   Patrologice   Latinoe    (Paris, 

1844-1880),  ed.  J.  B.  Migne. 
Sacrorum    Conciliorum    Collectio,    ed.    J.    D.    Mansi.     (Florence, 

1759-1913) 

Chapter  I 

Ancren  Riwle:  tr.  and  ed.  J.  Morton.  {Camden  Society  Pub- 
lications, 1853) 

Breviarium  Romanum. 

C^SARius  OF  Heisterbach:  Dialogus  Miraculorum.     (Koln,  1851) 

Giuseppe  Catalani:  Pontificale  Romanum.     (Roma,  1738,  1739) 

Catherine  of  Siena:  Dialogue.  (Tr.  and  ed.  Algar  Thorold,  with 
an  introductory  essay.     London,  1896) 

H.  A.  Daniel:  Thesaurus  Hymnologicu^.  3  vols.  (Leipsic,  1855- 
1862) 

GuLiELMus  DuRANDus:  Rationale  divinorum  officiorum.  (Venetia, 
1494) 

Nicholas  Gihr:  The  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass.  (Tr.  St.  Louis, 
1902) 

GiRALDUs  Cambrensis:  Opera,  ed.  J.  S.  Brewer  (Rolls  Series,  XXI). 

J.  Gorres:  Die  christliche  Mystik.  4  vols,  in  5.  (Regensburg, 
1836-1842) 


140  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Ferdinand  Gregorovius:    History  of  the  City  of  Rome  in  the 

Middle  Ages.    8  vols.     (Tr.  Annie  Hamilton,  London,  1907) 
Adolph  Harnack:    History  of  Dogma.     7  vols.     (Tr.  Neil  Bu- 
chanan, Boston,  1898-1902) 
Edwin  Hatch:    The  Influence  of  Greek  Ideas  and  Usages  upon  the 

Christian  Church,  Hibbert  Lectures,   1888.     (London,    1891) 
W.  R.  Inge:   Christian  Mysticism.     (Bampton  Lectures,  1889) 
Lay  Folks'  Mass  Book.     (Ed.   T.   F.  Simmons.     Early  English 

Text  Society,  1879) 
AcHiLLE  Luchaire:  Innocent  III  et  le  quatrieme  concile  de  Latran. 

{Revue  historiqu£,  97 :  225-263) 
£mile  Male:    L'art  religieux  de  la  fin  du  moyen  dge  en  France. 

(Paris,  1908) 
Edmundo    Mart{:ne:    De   antiquiis   ecclesice   ritibus.     (Antwerp, 

1763-1764) 
F.  J.  MoNE :   Hymni  Latini  Medii  ^vi.    3  vols.     (Freiburg,  1853- 

1855) 
Elsie  Clews  Parsons  (John  Main):  Religious  Chastity.    (New 

York,  1913) 
Bernard  Picart:    The  ceremonies  and  religious  customs  of  the 

various  nations  of  the  known  world.     7  vols.     (English  trans. 

1733-1739) 
Daniel  Rock:   The  Church  of  our  Fathers.    4  vols.     (New  edition, 

London,  1905) 
Charles  Rohault  de  Fleury:    La  Messe;   etudes  archeologiqu^s 

sur  ses  monuments  continuees  far  son  fits  G.  Rohault  de  Fleury. 

8  vols.     (Paris,  1883-1889) 
Darwell  Stone:  A  History  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.    2  vols.     (Lon- 
don, 1909) 
H.  0.  Taylor:    The  Medieval  Mind.    2  vols.     (New  York,  1914) 
Thomas  Aquinas:    Summa   Theologice.     {Opera  omnia,   IV-XII. 

Leonine  ed.) 
Algar  Thorold:    An  essay  in  aid  of  the  better  understanding  of 

Catholic  mysticism,  illustrated  from  the  writings  of  blessed  Angela 

of  Foligno.     (London,  1900) 
Evelyn  Underbill  :  The  Mystic  Way.     (London,  1913) 
Maurice  de  Wulf:    History  of  Medieval  Philosophy.     (Tr.   P. 

Coffey,  London,  1909) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  141 

Chapter  II  —  GRAIL  LEGEND 

TEXTS 

Perceval  le  Gallois  ou  le  Conte  du  Graal,  publi^e  d'apr^s  les  manu- 
scrits  originaux  par  Ch.  Potvin.  (Mons,  1865)  This  is  in 
six  volumes  of  which  the  first  contains  Perlesvaus.  The  others 
contain  the  work  of  Chrestien  and  his  followers. 

Peredur  the  Son  of  Evrawc.  (Mabinogion,  tr.  Lady  Charlotte 
Guest,  ed.  A.  Nutt,  London,  1910) 

Syr  PercyveUe.     (Ed.  Campion  und  Holthausen,  Heidelberg,  1913) 

Parzival:  Wolfram  von  Eschenbach  (Ed.  Bartsch,  1875);  Trans, 
modern  German,  W.  Hertz  (Stuttgart,  1898);  Trans.  Eng- 
Ush,  Parzival,  A  Knightly  Epic:  J.  L.  Weston.  2  vols. 
(London,  1904) 

Diu  Crone,  ed.  SchoU.     (1852) 

Joseph  d' Arimathie ;  Merlin:  Robert  de  Borron.  (Verse,  Le 
Saint  Graal,  ed.  F.  Michel,  1841) 

Joseph,  Merlin,  Didot-Perceval :  Robert  de  Borron.  (Prose,  Le 
Saint  Graal,  ed.  E.  Hucher,  3  vols.,  Le  Mans,  1874) 

Modena-Perceval.  (Prose,  The  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval,  vol.  II, 
J.  L.  Weston,  London,  1906-1909) 

Vulgate  Version  of  the  Arthurian  Romances.  7  vols.  (Ed. 
H.  O.  Sommer,  Washington,  1908-1913)  Vol.  I.  Lestoire 
del  Saint  Graal  (Grand  St.  Graal).  Vol.  II.  Prose  Lancelot. 
Vol.  VI.    Les  Aventures  ou  la  Queste  del  Saint  Graal  (Queste). 

CRITICISM 

Joseph  B^dier:  Les  legendes  epiques.    4  vols.    (Paris,  1908-1913) 
A.  BiRCH-HiRSCHFELD :    Die  Sage  vom  Gral.     (Leipsic,  1877) 
E.  A.  Freeman:    The  Cathedral  Church  of  Wells.     (London,  1870) 
Wolfgang  Golther:  Parzival  und  der  Gral,  in  deutscher  Sage  des 

Mittelalters  und  der  Neuzeit.     (Leipsic,  1913) 
Paul  Hagen:    Der  Gral.     (Qusllen  und  Forschungen,   LXXXV. 

1900) 
Richard  Heinzel.     jjher  die  franzosischen  Gralromane.     (Denk- 

schriften  der  Kaiserlichen  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften,  40:  3, 

Strassburg,  1892) 


142  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

W.  Hertz:   Parzivcd  neu  bearbeitet.    Essay  appended.     (Stuttgart, 

Vienna,  1898) 
T.  S.  Holmes:   Wells  and  Glastonbury.     (London,  1908) 
L.    E.    Iselin:    Der   morgenldndische    Ursprung   der   (haUegende. 

(HaUe,  1909) 
W.  W.  Newell:    The  Legend  of  the  Holy  Grail.     (Cambridge  and 

Leipsic,  1902) 
W.  A.  Nitze:   The  Old  French  Grail  Romance  Perlesvaus.     (Balti- 
more, 1902) 
Alfred  Nutt:  Studies  on  the  Legend  of  the  Holy  Grail.     {Folk 
Lore  Society  Publications,  XXIII,  London,  1888) 

Legends  of  the  Holy  Grail.     {Popular  Studies  in  Mythology, 

Romance  and  Folklore,  No.  14.     London,  1902) 

Celtic  Myth  and  Saga.     {Folk  Lore,  September,  1902) 

Recent  Grail  Literature.     {Academy,  London,  May  7,  1910) 

Paulin  Paris:  Le  Saint  Graal.     {Romania,  1 :  457  £f.) 
Rose  J.  Peebles:   The  Legend  of  Longinus.     (Baltimore,  1911) 
San-Marte  (Albert  Schulz)  :  An  essay  on  the  influence  of  Welsh 
tradition  upon  the  literature  of  Germany,  France,  and  Scandi- 
navia.    (English  trans.  Llandovery,  1841) 
Willy  Staerk:    Uber  den  Ursprung  der  Grallegende,  ein  Beitrag 

zur  christlichen  Mythologie.     (Tubingen,  1903). 
TheodorSterzenbach:  Ursprung  und  Entwicklung  der  Sage  vom 

heiligen  Gral.  (Mtinster,  1908) 
F.  E.  Warren:   Liturgy  and  Ritual  of  the  Celtic  Church.    (Oxford, 

1881) 
Eduard  Wechssler:   Die  Sage  vom  heiligen  Gral.     (Halle,  1908) 
Jessie  L.  Weston:  The  Legend  of  Sir  Perceval.    2  vols.     (London, 

1906-1909) 
The  Quest  of  the  Holy  Grail.     (London,  1913) 

Chapter  III  —  DIVINE  COMEDY 

texts 

Dante  Alighieri:    Tutte  le  opere  nuovamente  rivedute  nel  teste 

da  Dr.  E.  Moore.     (Oxford,  1904) 
La  Divina  Commedia,  riveduta  nel  testo  e  commentata  da 

Scartazzini.     (Fourth  Edition,  Milano,  1903) 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  143 

-  The  Divine  Comedy,  tr.  Henry  Johnson.  (Yale  University 
Press,  1915.)  Passages  from  the  Divine  Comedy  quoted  in 
the  text  are  taken  from  this  translation, 

-  The  New  Life,  tr.  D.  G.  Rossetti.     (1861) 

-  The  Banquet,  tr.  P.  H.  Wicksteed.     (London,  1909) 


CRITICISM 

Calderon  de  la  Barca:   Autos  sacramentales.     (Bibl.  de  autores 

espafioles,  Madrid,  1848-1896) 
E.  G.  Gardner:  Dante  and  the  Mystics.     (London,  1913) 
Arturo  Graf:  Miti,  leggende  e  superstitioni  del  medio  evo.    2  vols. 

(Torino,  1892-1893) 
'EovfABSiMoom:.:  Studies  in  Dante.     3  vols.     (Oxford,  1896-1903) 
J.  A.  Symonds:   The  Study  of  Dante.     (London,  1906) 
Thomas   Aquinas:    Officium   de  festo   Corporis    Christi.     {Opera 

omnia,  XXIX:  335  ff.    Paris,  1876) 
Karl  Vossler:  Die  gottliche  komodie.    2  vols.     (Heidelberg,  1907- 

1910) 


INDEX 


Abelson,  J.,  104 

Agnus  Dei,  57,  58 

Alberic  des  Trois  Fontaines,  49, 

125 
St.  Aldhelm,  47,  52 
Algerus,  56,  81,  89 
AUegory,  88,  107-110 
Altar  stone,  42,  60,  61 
St.  Ambrose,  16 
Ancren  Riwle,  24 
Angela  of  Foligno,  25,  42 
Anselm  of  Canterbury,  22 
St.  Augustine,  16,  19,  74 

Baldwin  of  Canterbury,  62 
Banks,  M.,  50 
Bartsch,  Karl,  83,  134 
Beatrice,  101,  106,  107,  109,  110, 

111,  112,  114,  115,  116 
Bede,  49,  112 
B^dier,  J.,  44,  53,  54 
Berengarius,  15,  16,  17,  18,  21,  75 
Bernard  of  Clair vaux,  21,  110,  111 
Birch-Hirschfeld,  A.,  38 
Bleheris,  39 
Bohort,  29,  82,  83 
Bonaventura,  21,  24,  62,  94 
de  Borron,  Robert,  33,  35,  36,  39, 

42-46,  53-56,  61,  62,  65,  66,  68, 

74,  78,  123 
Brent,  C.  H.,  122 
Breviarium  Romanum,  24,  91 
Brewer,  J.  S.,  52,  71 
British  church,  47,  50-53,  65,  74, 
t}  123,  124 
Brown,  A.  C.  L.,  39,  122 


Caesarius  of  Heisterbach,  25,  72, 

75,  78,  81,  123 
Calderon  de  la  Barca,  98,  111 
Calo,  Peter,  84 
Cantelupe,  Thomas,  112 
Carmina  Burana,  70 
Catalan!,  G.,  95,  128,  129 
Catherine  of  Siena,  25,  57,  82,  111. 

112 
Chalice,  42,  45,  58,  59,  61,  62 
Chansons  de  geste,  54 
Chariot,  103,  104 
Chastity,  43,  68-74,  79,  113 
Ciborium,  28,  55,  58,  59,  60,  62,  63 
Conte  del  Graal,  34,  46 
Corpus  Christi  Day,   17,   18,  93, 

101,  102,  104,  105;    office  for, 

23,  94;  procession,  94-101,  104, 

116,  128  ff. 
Cortet,  Eugdne,  94 
Crestien  de  Troies,  34,  35,  55,  78 
Crusades,  39,  61 

Daniel,  H.  A.,  116 

Dante  Alighieri,  11,  12,  41,  87  flf. 

Devine,  A.,  22 

Didot,  A.  F.,  36 

Didot  Perdval,  36,  63 

Dionysius,  20,  22,  89,  119 

Diu  Crdne,  35,  55 

Divine  Comedy,  12,  28,  41,  85  ff. 

Durandus,  58,  63,  65,  77 

Earthly  Paradise,  39,  66,  67,  92, 
100, 101,  102, 107, 110, 113, 115, 
116,  136 


146 


INDEX 


Eaater  sepulchre,  97,  132 
Eastern  Church,  39  — 
Empyrean,  113 
Evans,  Sebastian,  27,  37,  79 

Fecamp,  48,  53,  54,  75 
Fertility  rites,  32,  40,  66 
Fletcher,  J.  B.,  114 
Fortescue,  Adrian,  109,  133 
St.  Francis,  114 
Frauenlob,  135 
Freeman,  E.  A.,  47 

Gawain,  64,  67,  73,  77,  79 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  95,  96 

Gerbert,  34,  66 

Gihr,  Nicholas,  105 

GUdas,  49,  51 

Giraldus  Cambrensis,  50,  52,  53, 
59,  71,  72,  75,  77,  78,  79,  80, 
124 

Glastonbury,  40,  42,  43,  44,  48, 
49,  50,  52,  53,  72,  77,  125 

Gnosis,  4,  19 

Godinez,  22 

Golther,  W.,  38,  39 

Gorres,  J.,  25,  79 

Graf,  Arturo,  66,  67 

Grail,  castle,  27,  66,  67;  early  his- 
tory of,  34,  35,  37,  38,  43;  food- 
producing  powers  of,  32,  33,  55, 
81,  123;  legend,  28,  29,  31,  33, 
41,  44;  miracles,  74-82;  quest, 
31,  32,  37,  38,  42,  44,  83;  ro- 
mances, 33-38;  "secret,"  43, 
53,  63-66;  a  symbol  of  tran- 
substantiation,  42,  47,  55;  ves- 
sel, 41,  54-63 

Grand  St.  Graal,  36,  39,  46,  55,  62, 
72,  77,  80,  127 

Green,  J.  R.,  14,  48 

Gregorovius,  Ferdinand,  10,  11 


St.  Gregory,  the  Christ  of,  25,  78, 

79,  114,  127 
von  Groote,  E.,  135 
Guest,  Lady  Charlotte,  34 

Hagen,  Paul,  39 

Harnack,  Adolf,  13,  14,  17,  18 

Hatch,  Edwin,  122 

Hearn,  Thomas,  126 

Heinrich  von  dem  Tiirlin,  35 

Heinzel,  Richard,  39,  61 

Helinandus,  45,  55,  56 

Henry  II,  40,  43,  48,  49 

Hertz,  W.,  40,  84,  110 

High  History  of  the  Holy  Grail, 

37 
Hildebert  of  Lavardin,  16,  22,  23, 

25,  64,  70,  75,  105,  126,  134 
Hildebrand,  10,  20,  40,  70 
Holmes,  T.  S.,  47 
Honorius  of  Autun,  22,  45 
St.  Hugh  of  Lincoln,  77 
Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  22,  23,  26,  65, 

76,  92,  108,  114,  134,  137 

Inge,  W.  R.,  4,  21 
Innocent  III,  9  ff.,  58,  70 
Introit,  102,  133 
Iselin,  L.  E.,  67 
Isidor  of  Seville,  92,  136 

St.  Jerome,  16,  69 

St.  John  Chrysostom,   Liturgy  of, 

57 
John  of  Glastonbury,  77,  126 
John  of  Ruysbroeck,  25 
Joseph  of  Arimathea,  32, 33, 41,  44, 

45,  46,  48,  49,  50,  53,  55,  63,  65, 

72,  76,  81,  124,  125 
Joseph    d'Arimathie,    35,    44,    63, 

64 
JuUana  of  Lidge,  93 


INDEX 


147 


Kennedy,  D.  J.,  84 

King  Arthur,  47-50,  77,  96,  125, 

126 
Kiot,  35,  39 

Lancelot,  68,  73,  80 
Lanfrane,  17,  41,  96,  131 
Lateran  Council,  9  ff.,  58,  64,  92 
Lea,  Henry,  69 
Leclercq,  H.,  9,  75 
Luchaire,  Achille,  11,  12,  14 
Lydgate,  John,  98,  104,  114 

Mabillon,  51 

Mabinogion,  34 

Male,  Emile,  76,  78,  79 

Malory,  Sir  Thomas,  37,  68,  73 

Manessier,  34 

Map,  Walter,  39,  70 

Marie  of  Oignys,  25 

Martene,  Edmondo,  95,  98,  133 

Merlin,  35,  44,  46 

Merlin,  Prose,  36 

Metrical,  Joseph,  35,   44,   53,    55, 

62,  63 
Modena  Perceval,  36 
Mone,  F.  J.,  26,  57,  64,  104 
Moore,  E.,  100 
Morte  Darthur,  37,  66 
Morton,  J.,  24 
Muskatblut,  135 
Mystic  Vision,  3,  22,  25,  42,  66,  83, 

85,  88,  89,  104,  106,  112,  113, 

114,  115,  116,  127 
Mysticism,  3,  4,  5;   Scholastic,  4, 

21;    Neo-Platonic,  4;    in  eucha- 

ristic  devotion,  18,  20-28,  42 

Naogeorgus    (or    Kirchmaier), 

Thomas,  98,  99,  123 
Neo-Platonism,  4,  19,  20 
Newell,  W,  W.,  39,  45 


Nitze,  W.  A.,  39,  121 
Nutt,  Alfred,  33-35,   36,  37,  39, 
61,74 

Origin  of  Species,  28 
Oswald  V.  Wolkenstein,  135 
Oulmont,  Charles,  69 

Paris,  Gaston,  34 

Paris,  Paulin,  40,  49,  125 

Parsons,     Elsie     Clews      ("John 

Main"),  69 
Parzival,  35,  39,  66 
Paschasius  Radbertus,  15,  17,  76 
Paten,  42,  45,  58,  61,  62 
Peebles,  Rose  J.,  39,  51,  75,   121, 

123 
Perceval,  28,  43,  47,  65,  66,  68,  73 
Perceval,  36,  44 
Peredur,  son  of  Evrawc,  34 
Perlesvaus,  27,  32,  37,  40,  43,  55, 

64,  66,  67,  68,  73,  75,  77,  78,  79, 

81,  96,  124,  127 
Petrus  Sarnensis,  96 
Pfanmiiller,  Ludwig,  135 
Phillips,  W.  A.,  11 
Philo,  19 
Picart,  B.,  95,  97 
Plecgils,  76 
Plotinus,  19 
Pohle,  J.,  18 
Potvin,  Charles,  37,  40 
Prose  Lancelot,  42 

Queste  del  St.  Graal,  28,  29,  36,  39, 
43,  46,  55,  61,  62,  63,  66,  73,  75, 

77,  79,  80,  82,  127 

Rabanus  Maurus,  108 
Raphael,  75 
Ratramnus,  15 
Rawlinson,  A.  E.  J.,  122 


148 


INDEX 


Rhys,  Sir  John,  68 

Richard  de  St.  Germano,  12,  14 

Richer,  125 

Ritual  theory,  38,  39,  121-125 

Rohault  de  Fleury,  Charles,  58, 

59,  60,  61,  77 
Rossetti,  D.  G.,  115 

Sacramental  System,  4,  5,  20,  21, 

22,  26,  89 
San  Marte  (Albert  Schulz),  40,  49, 

52,  96,  125 
Sauvage,  G.  M.,  15,  16,  17 
Scotus,  Erigena,  15,  16,  20 
Scudder,  Vida  D.,  57 
Scully,  Vincent,  25 
Secreta,  63-65 
Shrawley,  J.  H.,  18 
Sicardus  of  Cremona,  57,  64 
Sommer,   H.   O.,   39,  46,  72,  73, 

127 
Sterzenbach,  Theodor,  60 
Stone,  Darwell,  97,  122 
Syr  Percyvelle,  34 
Symonds,  J.  A.,  100 

Tabernacle,  55,  62,  63 

Taylor,  H.  O.,  109 

Tennyson,  Alfred,  68,  73,  76 

Theodoric,  51 

St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  4,  7,  21,  23, 

84,  85,  94,  98,  110,  114 
Thorold,  Algar,  25,  42,  111,  113 
Thurston,  Herbert,  69 


Transubstantiation,  5,  7,  41,  42, 
43,  53,  61,  64,  87;  the  term, 
16,  70;  controversy  concerning, 
15  ff.,  65;  declared  an  article  of 
faith,  13,  14;  miracles,  43,  75, 
83;  mystic  knowledge  of,  21  ff., 
42,  66,  82,  83,  87,  88 

Trumbull,  H.  C,  122 

Uh-ich  V.  Turheim,  135 
Underhill,  Evelyn,  22 
Urban  IV,  93,  94,  95,  106 

St.  Veronica,  114 
Veronica  of  Binasco,  25 
Victorines,  21 
Vienne,  Council  of,  94 
Vossler,  Karl,  100 

Warren,  F.  E.,  51 

Warton,  Thomas,  52 

Wauchier  de  Denain,  34,  55,  78, 

80 
Weber,  Beda,  135 
Weston,  Jessie  L.,  33,  35,  39,  53, 

61,  62,  65,  66,  68,  74,  121,  123, 

124 
WUkins,  95,  96 
William  of  Malmesbury,  48 
Winchelsy,  Robert,  112 
Wolfram  von  Eschenbach,  35,  39, 

42,  55,  60 
de  Wulf,  Maurice,  4,  21 
Wyclif,  15 


VITA 

LiZETTE  Andrews  Fisher  was  born  in  San  Francisco, 
California,  December  19,  1868. 

She  came  east  in  childhood,  and  had  her  primary  and 
secondary  education  at  Miss  Sanford's  school,  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. 

Her  studies  after  that  were  carried  on  privately  at  home 
and  abroad.  At  various  times  she  has  been  engaged  in  the 
work  of  literary  secretary  and  assistant  in  research. 

In  1910  she  was  admitted  to  the  graduate  school  of  Co- 
lumbia University  in  the  Department  of  English  and  Com- 
parative Literature  on  the  basis  of  work  held  to  be  the 
equivalent  to  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of  Arts,  and  later 
was  matriculated  for  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts  which 
was  conferred  in  June,  1912.  Her  further  study  at  Columbia 
covered  a  period  of  three  years,  and  was  under  the  direction 
of  Professors  Fletcher,  Thorndike,  and  Lawrence. 


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